IAEA Board Refers Iran to UN Security Council Over Nuclear Investigation Standoff
The IAEA board has reported Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years, citing a failure to cooperate with nuclear site investigations.
POLICY WIRE — Vienna, Austria — The board of the United Nations atomic watchdog voted on Wednesday to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council, marking the first such action in two decades. The decision stems from Tehran’s persistent failure to cooperate with a long-running investigation into uranium traces discovered at undeclared locations.
Western nations, including the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, spearheaded the resolution. While 23 members of the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board supported the measure, China, Russia, and Niger voted against it, with eight abstentions.
Western officials have expressed concerns that these uranium traces may indicate the existence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program active until 2003. Iran maintains that its nuclear activities are strictly peaceful and has dismissed the resolution as a political maneuver that undermines the credibility and impartiality of the IAEA.
Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. in Vienna, argued that compliance with inspection requests is currently impossible due to the ongoing military conflict with the U.S. and Israel. He noted that recent airstrikes have rendered safe access to nuclear facilities unattainable, a sentiment echoed by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.
The resolution formally requests that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi notify the Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly of the agency’s findings. It further demands that Iran take immediate steps to address its noncompliance and provide necessary assurances regarding the security of its nuclear materials.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
