IAEA chief, Yukiya Amano, announced the meeting in Vienna, as the IAEA governing board opened its closed-door meeting, where it is expected to focus on the Iranian nuclear program. Amano urged Iran to provide "early access" to Parchin, where international experts suspect Iran is carrying out nuclear tests. The IAEA has cited new satellite images it says suggest "extensive activities" at Parchin, include the razing of two buildings, in what experts say could be signs of a clean-up following explosive tests.

Iran says it needs nuclear research for civilian energy purposes, and in mid-February the Islamic Republic said it had launched an additional 3,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, making a total number of 9,000.

Later that month, an IAEA delegation arrived in Iran for an inspection visit but failed to visit Parchin. Iranian authorities said a visit to nuclear facilities was not on the agenda of IAEA experts, and later said the international monitors had refused to visit Parchin themselves.

In early March, Western media reports, quoting unidentified experts, said that Iran tried to cover up nuclear tests at Parchin, but Iran denied the reports as “propaganda.”