U.N. nuclear agency to hold extraordinary meeting on Iran on March 2

The United Nations’ nuclear agency will hold an extraordinary meeting on Iran on Monday (March 2, 2026) in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, aimed in part at Tehran’s atomic programme.

In a statement late on Saturday (February 28), the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the meeting was at the request of Russia, a key ally of Tehran.

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Iran had made the same request in a letter to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Saturday (February 28) following the strikes, which led to the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As a result, the agency will hold a “special session of the IAEA Board of Governors on matters related to military strikes of the United States and Israel against the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, the IAEA said in a statement.

That extraordinary meeting will precede an already scheduled session of the board, which represents 35 countries.

Following the strikes, the  IAEA said it was “closely monitoring developments in the West Asia, and urges restraint to avoid any nuclear safety risks to people in the region”.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog had also stressed on Friday (February 27) the “utmost urgency” of its request to verify all nuclear material in Iran, according to a confidential report seen by AFP.

Western countries led by the United States and Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy, accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies having such military ambitions, but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.