Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, is not expected to attend the International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference in Vienna because he is subject to an international travel ban, according to an official briefed on the matter. Austria sought an exemption from the U.N. sanctions committee, but the request was not granted, the official said.
The account conflicts with a report Saturday from Iran’s state news agency IRNA, which said Eslami had left Tehran for Vienna to participate in the conference and meet representatives of various countries. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the sensitive matter publicly, spoke on condition of anonymity. Senior officials from IAEA member states are due to gather from Monday through Friday at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna.
As host of the United Nations in Vienna, Austria can seek travel-ban exemptions allowing sanctioned officials to attend international conferences there. Eslami has regularly attended and addressed the IAEA General Conference since his appointment as head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization in 2021. His expected absence would be his first from the annual gathering in years.
The dispute comes amid worsening relations between Iran and Western countries. The United States and Iran resumed intermittent fighting after a fragile ceasefire collapsed in July. Since Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June 2025, Iran has not allowed IAEA inspectors to access the affected locations, despite Tehran’s legal obligation to cooperate with the watchdog under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The IAEA has also been unable to verify the status of Iran’s stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium since the June bombing. According to the agency, Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short technical step from the 90% level considered weapons grade. Iran says it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and maintains that its program is entirely peaceful.
France, Britain and Germany last year triggered the snapback mechanism, automatically restoring all U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The three countries said Iran had willfully departed from the 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures. The reinstated sanctions include a travel ban, a conventional arms embargo, limits on ballistic missile development, asset freezes and a prohibition on producing nuclear-related technology.