Energy Secretary Chris Wright continues to call on Iran to fall in line with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards agreement in a Monday speech.
Wright told the IAEA’s General Conference in Vienna, Austria, that Iran’s lack of transparency and failure to abide by the NPT-required safeguards has been “unacceptable.” Wright said that the country has two choices: “continued defiance and isolation, or cooperation and a path toward greater security, prosperity, and integration with the international community.”
“Safeguards obligations are not optional, and they cannot be ignored without consequence,” Wright said. “Iran has been given ample time to address its egregious negligence toward its NPT-required obligations, but that time is up. Allowing Iran more time only delays overdue accountability.”
The IAEA’s Board of Governors adopted a resolution in June 2025 finding that Iran was not compliant with its safeguards agreement because the country failed to address safeguards concerns that have been flagged for over six years, Wright said in his speech. In IAEA Director Rafael Grossi’s Monday speech, he noted that the international agency has not conducted any in-field verification activities in Iran for over half of a year.
Wright said Iran “must fully cooperate with the IAEA, meet its safeguards obligations, and provide the access necessary for the agency to do its job.” He said Iran’s interactions with IAEA have been stark compared to Syria, which both Wright and Grossi addressed in their respective speeches at the conference.
Wright’s call to action during the time when tensions are high between the United States and Tehran with attacks being traded this week. While the two countries have had a much-storied history, they have recently been in an armed conflict since February, with other countries in the Middle Eastern region involved as well.
President Donald Trump’s administration has stood firm on the vow of Iran never developing or acquiring a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials have said that the nuclear program it has is peaceful.