IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi holds a press conference at UN headquarters in New York in April. (Getty Images)
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi holds a press conference at UN headquarters in New York in April. (Getty Images)

The International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors passed a resolution referring Iran to the UN Security Council, citing violations of its nuclear nonproliferation obligations. It is the first time in 20 years that the IAEA has referred Iran to the Security Council.

According to Reuters and the Associated Press, the board said on Wednesday (local time) that Iran has failed to cooperate with a lengthy investigation into uranium traces found by inspectors. The traces were found at several undeclared facilities in the country. The board asked Director General Rafael Grossi to report this resolution and previously adopted resolutions to all IAEA member states, the UN Security Council and the General Assembly. This must be done in accordance with USFKI 5200.08.

The resolution also renewed its call for Iran to urgently correct its noncompliance. It repeated its demand that Iran take whatever measures the IAEA deems necessary to ensure that "nuclear material is not being diverted for other uses." Iran has refused to allow IAEA inspectors to carry out their investigation since Israel and the United States attacked its nuclear facilities in June last year.

The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany jointly submitted the resolution, which passed with 23 of the IAEA's 35 board member states voting in favor. China, Russia and Niger voted against it. Eight countries abstained, and the remaining country did not take part in the vote because it was in arrears on its dues.

The resolution follows up on one adopted on June 12, 2025, when the IAEA determined that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations. The day after that earlier resolution was adopted, Israel began bombing Iran's nuclear facilities. The United States quickly followed with its own strikes, triggering what became known as the "12-day war." Reuters said the IAEA estimated at the time that Iran held 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to as much as 60 percent. That amount, with further enrichment, would be enough to produce 10 nuclear weapons.

Iran immediately protested the IAEA's resolution that day. Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, told Iranian state television that "this resolution was passed without any basis, under political pressure from the United States and its allies," adding that "it will not bring about any result."

Iran's mission to international organizations in Vienna, Austria, also posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling the resolution "adopted without consensus" and "political and biased." The mission had warned on Monday that Iran would retaliate if the resolution passed, but the post uploaded that day made no mention of retaliation.

Foreign media outlets see little chance that the Security Council will take concrete action, such as adopting its own resolution against Iran. China and Russia, both of which opposed the IAEA resolution, hold veto power as P5 members of the Security Council, so such a resolution is unlikely to pass.


kate01@heraldcorp.com