IAEA Refers Iran to UN Security Council Over Nuclear Non-Compliance

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency has adopted a resolution finding that Iran has failed to meet its nuclear obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and referring the matter to the UN Security Council.

The move, supported by the United States and its principal European allies, comes more than six months into the US-Israeli war against Iran as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz continue to rise. The US and Iran have exchanged attacks on vessels there in recent days.

What are the IAEA’s allegations against Iran?

The resolution voiced “grave concern” about Iran’s “continued noncompliance” with obligations it accepted as an NPT signatory.

The treaty prohibits Iran from developing nuclear weapons and requires it to place nuclear material under IAEA safeguards, allowing inspectors to verify that it is used only for peaceful purposes.

The watchdog has not been able to access several major Iranian nuclear facilities since the United States and Israel began a 12-day war against Iran in June 2025. That campaign included strikes on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites.

The board said missing information about previously declared nuclear material, together with its inability to inspect that material, poses an urgent proliferation concern.

It urged Tehran to enter serious, unconditional talks designed to restore international confidence that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.

This is the first time in two decades that the IAEA Board of Governors has adopted a resolution of this kind.

How has Iran responded?

Iran condemned the resolution as baseless and politically driven.

“This resolution was adopted under political pressure from the United States and its allies and has no basis in our view,” said Reza Najafi, Iran’s representative to the UN in Vienna.

Najafi said the conflict has prevented inspectors from receiving safe access to Iran’s nuclear sites. He added that Iran had “neither stopped nor suspended its safeguards obligations,” but said fulfilling them was “currently impossible under continuing military operations and persistent threats”.

Tehran said it “will cooperate only to the extent that circumstances and safety permit”.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi accused the United States, together with Britain, France and Germany, of using the crisis for political theatre. In a post on X, he said those countries had attacked safeguarded nuclear facilities, disrupted the verification process and then used that disruption as justification for the resolution.

Tehran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons while asserting its right to develop civilian nuclear technology.

US President Donald Trump has demanded that Tehran completely dismantle its nuclear enrichment programme. Washington launched the current war after concluding that Iran was close to producing a nuclear bomb, an assessment not supported by either the IAEA or US intelligence agencies.

What could the UN Security Council do?

Further action is unlikely because Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members with veto power, support Iran.

Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group described the resolution as an exercise in futility and said Moscow and Beijing were likely to block Western pressure in the council.

What impact could the referral have on the war?

The United States, which has made Iran’s nuclear programme a central issue in the conflict, could cite the referral as evidence of a potential Iranian nuclear threat.

On the day of the IAEA vote, Trump renewed threats to strike Pickaxe Mountain, which contains two underground complexes near Iran’s damaged Natanz uranium-enrichment facility.

Trump said US officials had observed “a little activity” there and warned Iran not to “get cute” because Washington would respond “very hard”.

He also reiterated his claim that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, adding that the world would be “in deep trouble” if Tehran obtained one.

Trump’s repeated warnings about an Iranian nuclear threat come despite his statement last summer that US strikes had “totally obliterated” Iran’s key enrichment facilities.

What is the IAEA’s history with Iran?

In the early 2000s, the IAEA sharply criticized Iran for failing to fully declare nuclear material and activities. In 2006, the Security Council imposed sanctions after Iran did not comply with a resolution calling for an end to its uranium-enrichment programme.

Iran agreed in 2015 to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with six major powers, including the United States. The agreement strictly limited its nuclear programme and granted the IAEA extensive access to Iranian facilities for inspections.

Iran complied for several years, but the framework unraveled after Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. Tehran responded by expanding its nuclear programme and discarding many of the agreement’s restrictions.

In June 2025, the IAEA board declared that Iran was not complying with its international nuclear-safeguards commitments. Tehran rejected the finding and accused the agency of providing a pretext for US and Israeli attacks that followed days later.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi nevertheless rejected claims that Iran was capable of building an atomic bomb. “We did not have any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon,” he told CNN.

The IAEA suspects that Iran possesses about 400kg (882lbs) of highly enriched uranium. If enriched further, that material could potentially be used to manufacture 10 nuclear weapons.

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