The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) flies in front of its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 18, 2017. Photo: Reuters / Leonhard Foeger.

France said it was working with Britain and Germany to see the UN’s nuclear watchdog board of governors push Iran this week to cooperate fully and immediately to grant its inspectors access to sites Tehran has so far refused them to visit.

Iran, like any state to which the IAEA sends a request for access, must respond to it without delay and without conditions, to allow IAEA inspectors to establish the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities on its territory,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said in a daily online briefing.

“This is essential for preserving the authority of the IAEA and the strength of its verification regime.”