Iran says nuclear sites not ready for inspection after military strikes

WASHINGTON, United States — TEHRAN — Iran’s nuclear facilities remain unsecured for inspection because the country is still at war, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said Wednesday. Eslami said the International Atomic Energy Agency must establish a protocol governing visits to nuclear sites that have been hit by military strikes, and that no inspection requests could be submitted until such a protocol is in place. He also accused the United States and Israel of pressuring the IAEA to assess the condition of the damaged facilities. The future of Iran’s nuclear stockpile has been cited as a primary obstacle to reaching a long-term agreement between Tehran and Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview the same day, said Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, adding that he had blocked it twice.