On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a censure resolution against Iran, mandating that it enhance its cooperation with the agency and submit a comprehensive report detailing Tehran's efforts in the forthcoming year.
The dispute between Iran and the IAEA spans a variety of issues, including the failure to elucidate the presence of uranium traces at two undisclosed locations, the exclusion of several of the agency's principal experts in uranium enrichment, and Iran's reluctance to facilitate broader IAEA monitoring.
This resolution, echoing previous resolutions from November 2022 and June 2024, emphasizes the "essential and urgent" necessity for Iran to provide "technically credible explanations" for the uranium traces and to permit IAEA analysts to collect samples as necessary.
Furthermore, the resolution calls upon the IAEA to compile a comprehensive and current assessment on the potential presence or utilization of undeclared nuclear materials in relation to ongoing issues concerning Iran's nuclear program, including a thorough account of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA on these matters.
The resolution, introduced by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States during the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors, was met with criticism from Iranian officials, who labeled it as politically motivated.
Mohsen Naziri Asl, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, disputed the resolution's legitimacy, claiming it received minimal support, passing with just 19 in favor, while China, Russia, and Burkina Faso voted against it, and 12 abstained. Venezuela did not participate in the resolution at all.
"Should there be a resolution, Iran will either increase its activities or restrict the agency's access," one senior diplomat was quoted by the French AFP news agency prior to the vote.
This prediction was substantiated when, shortly after the vote, Iranian state media reported a joint statement from the foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, announcing the activation of new, advanced uranium-enrichment centrifuges by nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami.
