US blocks Iran nuclear chief from attending IAEA conference in Vienna

Iran slams Austria’s visa denial for nuclear chief, accusing the US of political bullying at the IAEA conference.

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, speaks during the 69th annual International Atomic Energy Agency general conference in Vienna, Austria, on September 15, 2025 [File: Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images]

The United States has barred Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, from attending this week’s annual General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at its headquarters in Vienna, after the United Nations Security Council rejected any waiver of “ snapback ” sanctions.

Eslami and his accompanying delegation were forced to cancel their trip to the five-day conference after Austria revoked his visa, Iranian state media said.

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization is subject to a UN Security Council travel ban under the pre-2015 multilateral “snapback” framework , which was reinstated last year by European signatories. It mandates that member states prevent the entry or transit of designated Iranian officials who are linked to the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Speaking at the conference opening, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, confirmed to delegations that Eslami’s visa had originally been approved, calling the move a direct infringement on Iran’s rights as a member state.

“By obstructing our full and effective participation, the denial of access contravenes both the letter and the spirit of the legal framework” governing attendance at meetings of the IAEA, he said, adding that Vienna’s decision not to grant a visa to Eslami “violates the host country’s obligation”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused the US of pressuring Austria into the decision, as Eslami had regularly attended and addressed the IAEA’s General Conference in Vienna since being appointed head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization in 2021.

Both Iran and Russia viewed the incident as part of a coordinated effort to thwart Iranian officials from securing international travel visas.

“The cancellation and so-called legal justification advanced for it are a stark indication of a political act and advanced formal politicisation of this organisation,” Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA told the conference.

Last year, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the E3) triggered the snapback mechanism of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to automatically recover UN sanctions that had been temporarily suspended under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, when the JCPOA took effect in 2015. US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord three years later.

The snapback sanctions include travel bans, a UN conventional arms embargo, restrictions on activities related to ballistic missile development and capabilities, asset freezes and a ban on producing nuclear-related technology.

Iran and its allies, including Russia, do not recognise the reimposed sanctions.

Austria’s status as host state to UN bodies allows it to request travel ban derogations for sanctioned officials attending international conferences, and it initially sought a UN Security Council travel-ban exemption for Iran’s nuclear chief. But the US objected.

Under the UN committee’s strict “no-objection” rule, “Austria was obliged to deny one member of the Iranian delegation the entry into its territory”, Austria’s ambassador to the IAEA, Christian Ebner, told the conference.

US Ambassador Preston Wells Griffith III said his country had objected in New York to granting an exemption, which is why the application was denied.

“His (Eslami’s) participation would have only resulted in Iran exploiting IAEA proceedings as a stage for propaganda while sidestepping substantive cooperation, undermining the credibility of the very body charged with verifying its nuclear commitments,” he said, referring to a standoff over nuclear inspections.

Following US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities during the 12-day war in June of last year, Tehran has denied IAEA inspectors access to the affected sites, a breach of its legal obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran has maintained that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and its programme is entirely peaceful.

On Monday, Trump said Iran wanted to reach a deal with Washington, signalling a possible diplomatic opening despite the Strait of Hormuz impasse, widening regional escalations and the postponement of talks between Gulf Arab states and Iran.

“The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage – The concept of which we are open to,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

伊朗强烈谴责奥地利拒绝向其核能负责人发放签证，指责美国在国际原子能机构会议上进行政治欺凌。

2025年9月15日，伊朗原子能组织主席穆罕默德·伊斯兰米在奥地利维也纳举行的第69届国际原子能机构年会上发表讲话。[图片：Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images]

在联合国安理会拒绝豁免“快速恢复”制裁后，美国禁止伊朗核问题负责人穆罕默德·伊斯兰米出席本周在维也纳总部举行的国际原子能机构（IAEA）年度大会。

伊朗国家媒体报道称，奥地利吊销了伊斯兰米的签证，导致他及其随行代表团被迫取消了为期五天的会议行程。

伊朗原子能组织负责人受到联合国安理会2015年之前的多边“快速恢复”机制的旅行禁令约束，该机制于去年由欧洲签署国恢复。该机制规定，成员国必须阻止与伊朗核计划和弹道导弹计划有关的指定伊朗官员入境或过境。

在会议开幕式上，伊朗驻国际原子能机构大使雷扎·纳贾菲向各代表团证实，伊斯兰米的签证最初已获批准，并称此举直接侵犯了伊朗作为成员国的权利。

他表示，“拒绝我们入境阻碍了我们充分有效地参与，这既违反了国际原子能机构会议出席的法律框架的条文，也违反了其精神”，并补充说，维也纳决定不向伊斯兰米发放签证“违反了东道国的义务”。

伊朗外交部发言人伊斯梅尔·巴盖伊指责美国向奥地利施压，迫使其做出这一决定，因为自 2021 年被任命为伊朗原子能组织主席以来，伊斯兰米经常出席在维也纳举行的国际原子能机构大会并发表讲话。

伊朗和俄罗斯都认为这一事件是阻止伊朗官员获得国际旅行签证的协同行动的一部分。

伊朗驻国际原子能机构大使在会议上表示：“取消该组织职务以及为其提出的所谓法律理由，明显表明这是一个政治行为，也是该组织政治化的升级。”

去年，法国、德国和英国（英法三国）启动了《联合全面行动计划》（JCPOA）的快速恢复机制，以自动恢复根据联合国安理会第2231号决议暂时中止的联合国制裁。JCPOA于2015年生效。三年后，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普退出了该协议。

快速恢复制裁措施包括旅行禁令、联合国常规武器禁运、限制与弹道导弹研发和能力相关的活动、冻结资产以及禁止生产核相关技术。

伊朗及其盟友（包括俄罗斯）不承认重新实施的制裁。

奥地利作为联合国机构的东道国，有权为出席国际会议的受制裁官员申请旅行禁令豁免。奥地利最初曾寻求联合国安理会为伊朗核问题负责人申请旅行禁令豁免，但遭到美国反对。

奥地利驻国际原子能机构大使克里斯蒂安·埃布纳在会议上表示，根据联合国委员会严格的“不反对”规则，“奥地利不得不拒绝伊朗代表团的一名成员进入其领土”。

美国大使普雷斯顿·威尔斯·格里菲斯三世表示，他的国家在纽约反对给予豁免，这就是申请被驳回的原因。

“如果伊斯兰米参与其中，只会导致伊朗利用国际原子能机构的程序作为宣传舞台，同时回避实质性合作，从而损害负责核查其核承诺的机构的信誉，”他指的是在核查问题上的僵局。

去年6月，在为期12天的战争期间，美国和以色列袭击了伊朗的核设施。此后，德黑兰拒绝国际原子能机构核查人员进入受影响的设施，这违反了其在《不扩散核武器条约》下的法律义务。伊朗坚称，它没有发展核武器，其核计划完全是和平的。

周一，特朗​​普表示伊朗希望与华盛顿达成协议，这预示着尽管霍尔木兹海峡陷入僵局、地区局势不断升级以及海湾阿拉伯国家与伊朗之间的会谈被推迟，外交上仍有可能出现转机。

“伊朗这个衰落的国家急于达成协议，而且是迅速达成。我将决定美国是否选择参与——我们对这一概念持开放态度，”总统在Truth Social上写道。