IAEA board refers Iran to UN Security Council over nuclear ‘non-compliance’

The symbolic escalation has been initiated by the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has approved a resolution reporting Iran to the United Nations Security Council for breaching its non-proliferation obligations.Wednesday’s move is the first time in 20 years that the board, made up of 35 member countries, has passed such a resolution.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump official says ‘there may not be a nuclear agreement’ with Iranlist 2 of 4North Korea deploys warship ‘capable of annihilating retaliatory strikes’list 3 of 4IAEA warns over Iran nuclear access as Western powers push UN referrallist 4 of 4Can Iran enforce a restricted zone in the Strait of Hormuz?end of listThe move marks an escalation in the ongoing diplomatic standoff between Iran and Western nations. At least 23 countries voted in favour of the resolution, but Russia, China and Niger opposed it.However, it is unlikely the UN Security Council will take any action, as Iran’s allies Russia and China are veto-holding members.The United States and European allies, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, had lobbied the UN nuclear watchdog’s board members in recent days to pass the resolution.The text noted “with grave concern… Iran’s continued non-compliance with its obligations” and “reiterates its call upon Iran to urgently remedy its non-compliance”.In a statement on Wednesday, the European Union accused Iran of suspending its cooperation with the IAEA and refusing to allow the agency to inspect its nuclear facilities.“It is critical and urgent that Iran provides the IAEA with updated verifiable declarations about the quantity and whereabouts of nuclear material and related activities and allows inspections to resume in all its nuclear facilities,” the bloc said.Iran’s mission to the UN denounced the resolution. “The current situation is created solely because of the criminal acts of aggression by the U.S. and Israeli regime. The delusional objective of the U.S. to force the great Iranian nation into ‘surrender’ and to plunder its oil will never happen,” the mission said in a post on X.