UN nuclear watchdog board demands urgent Iran co-operation and access to nuclear sites

This shows Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran, on April, 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File)

VIENNA — The UN atomic watchdog board on Wednesday demanded Iran fully co-operate with the agency, provide “complete information” about its stockpile of near weapons-grade nuclear material and grant its inspectors access to Iranian nuclear sites.

The resolution stressed that providing information and access are “essential and urgent” in order to enable the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify that there is no “diversion of nuclear material.”

Twenty-one countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board of governors voted for the resolution at the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the closed-doors vote.

Russia, China and Niger opposed it, while 10 countries abstained and one did not vote as it was in arrears.

The resolution was put forward by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

A senior Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the sensitive matter, said that the resolution “aims to keep diplomatic pressure on Iran to come into compliance with its legal safeguards obligations.”

The resolution comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East, with the U.S. having launched airstrikes early Wednesday against Iran, and Tehran firing back at countries in the region. The escalating attacks threatened to derail efforts to end the war, as U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled peace negotiations.

Since Israel and the United States struck Iran’s nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June 2025, Iran has not given IAEA inspectors access to nuclear sites that were affected by the strikes — even though Tehran is legally obliged to co-operate with the watchdog under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The agency also has been unable to verify the status of the stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium since the June bombing.

According to the IAEA, Iran maintains a stockpile of 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.

That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi warned in a recent interview with the AP. He added that it doesn’t mean that Iran has such a weapon.

Iran says it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and says its program is entirely peaceful.

The resolution also “deeply regrets” Iran’s “failure to remedy” its non-compliance with its nonproliferation obligations over the past 12 months. The IAEA board found Iran officially in non-compliance with its safeguards agreement last June for the first time in 20 years – right before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks against Iran’s nuclear sites.

Central to this issue is a long-running investigation by the UN nuclear watchdog into uranium traces detected by inspectors at various undeclared sites in Iran.

Iran has failed to provide the agency with “technically credible answers” regarding the origin and current location of this nuclear material since 2019.

Western officials suspect the uranium traces could provide further evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program until 2003.

Wednesday’s resolution fell short of referring Iran to the UN Security Council to consider more sanctions for the country’s non-compliance, a move that last happened in February 2006 after Iran was found in non-compliance.

The resolution on Wednesday leaves that door open, however, stating that the IAEA board “will stand ready to take further action,” including by addressing the “timing and content” of a formal non-compliance report by the IAEA for consideration by the UN Security Council.

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Stephanie Liechtenstein, The Associated Press

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