UN nuclear watchdog board 'reports' Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in two decades

Twenty-three countries on the IAEA's 35-member board of governors voted for the resolution at IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

The UN atomic watchdog's board on Wednesday reported Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years for failure to cooperate in a long-running investigation into uranium traces detected by inspectors at various undeclared sites in Iran.

The resolution was put forward by the United States, Britain, France and Germany. (Representative Image (File Photo/Reuters) )

Twenty-three countries on the IAEA's 35-member board of governors voted for the resolution at IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

China, Russia and Niger opposed it, while eight countries abstained and one didn't vote as it was in arrears, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the outcome of the closed-door vote.

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

The diplomatic move has been under consideration since June 2025, when the IAEA board found Iran officially in noncompliance with its nonproliferation obligations because of Tehran's lack of cooperation in a long-running investigation into uranium traces detected by inspectors at various undeclared sites in Iran.

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

Iran says that it's not pursuing nuclear weapons, and its program is entirely peaceful.

Iran's referral to the UN Security Council comes amid a further escalation in the US war with Iran.

The US this week destroyed five Iranian oil tankers and Tehran hit back at American targets in Jordan, the latest burst of back-and-forth strikes that have lurched the sides back toward open hostilities in a more than 6-month-old war.

Reporting Iran to the UN Security Council now shifts the responsibility to a higher authority that is able to enact further measures, including sanctions or asset freezes.

But specific punitive measures by the UN are unlikely in this case since Iran's allies Russia and China hold veto power on the UN Security Council.

The draft resolution, which was seen by The Associated Press, requested the IAEA director general Rafael Grossi "to report this resolution and the previously adopted resolutions … to all Members of the Agency and to the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the IAEA Statute."

The resolution also reiterated its call upon Iran "to urgently remedy its non-compliance with its Safeguards Agreement by taking all steps deemed necessary by the Agency and the Board, so that the Director General can provide the necessary assurances regarding … the non-diversion of nuclear material."

Since Israel and the US struck Iran's nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June 2025, Iran hasn't given IAEA inspectors access to nuclear sites that were affected by the strikes.

The IAEA 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% purity - a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

That stockpile could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program, IAEA chief Grossi warned in an interview last year with the AP. He said that it doesn't mean that Iran has such a weapon. (AP) AMS