Inspectors from the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy (IAEA), have safely departed Iran and returned to Vienna, according to an official statement from the . The IAEA is now calling for the urgent restoration of monitoring and verification activities in Iran,

U.N. nuclear inspectors on Friday departed from Iran two days after the Middle Eastern nation suspended cooperation with the program and weeks after the United States and Israel bombed nuclear sites.

The withdrawal of international inspectors comes amid heightened concerns that Iran, battered by Israeli and U.S. strikes, may be driven to try to build a nuclear bomb.