IAEA seeks access to Iran nuclear sites to 'account for' highly enriched uranium stockpiles

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday called for its inspectors to be able to return to Iran's nuclear sites in a bid to "account for" its highly enriched uranium stockpiles and called for a cessation of hostilities.

The request follows attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"Iran, Israel and the Middle East need peace," Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the organisation's board of governors in Vienna. 

"For that, we must take a number of steps," he said.

"First of all, we must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors - the guardians on our behalf of the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) - to go back to Iran’s nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400 kilogrammes enriched to 60 percent." 

Grossi said Tehran had sent him a letter on 13 June announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials". 

"There needs to be a cessation of hostilities for the necessary safety and security conditions to prevail so that Iran can let IAEA teams into the sites to assess the situation," he said.