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The NPT lets countries use non-military nuclear technology - such as for medicine, agriculture and energy - but does not permit the development of nuclear weapons.

Israel, which has not signed the NPT, is assumed to have nuclear weapons, something it neither confirms nor denies.

The NPT aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and requires members to open their nuclear facilities to inspection to verify they are being used for purely peaceful purposes.

Mr. Grossi acknowledged that under the NPT, Iran is permitted to veto individual inspectors it does not agree with.

Pointing to precedents like Iraq and Libya, Israel has long worried that potentially hostile neighbors could use civilian nuclear energy and other projects developed under the 1970 NPT as cover for clandestine bombmaking.