Iranian officials have slammed a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors and have vowed that Tehran will now establish a new uranium enrichment site in response.
The resolution, introduced by the US, France, the UK, and Germany, declared that Iran was no longer complying with the safeguards agreement under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The accusation is mainly based on traces of uranium that the IAEA found at three undeclared sites in Iran in 2019.
The IAEA said in a recent report that Iran hasn’t provided satisfactory answers for uranium traces. Iran said in response that it had found evidence suggesting “sabotage” was responsible for the uranium traces.
Israeli intelligence has a history of penetrating Iran’s nuclear program and carrying out attacks and assassinations of nuclear scientists. Iranian media is claiming that Tehran has obtained secret documents that reveal IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has cooperated closely with Israel and that Iranian nuclear scientists were killed after the IAEA disclosed their names.
Regardless of how the uranium traces ended up at the undeclared sites, the issue is not relevant to the threat of nuclear proliferation today. Grossi has said that the agency believes that the traces may have been left over from undeclared Iranian nuclear activity in the early 2000s.
The other main issue the resolution raised was the enrichment of uranium at the 60% level. “Iran is the only State in the world without nuclear weapons that is producing and accumulating uranium enriched to 60%,” the resolution states.
In 2021, Iran began enriching some uranium at 60%, which is below the 90% needed for weapons-grade, in response to an Israeli sabotage attack on its Natanz nuclear facility. Tehran has made clear that it’s willing to reduce its enrichment levels as part of a deal for sanctions relief from the US.
Tehran has also made it clear that there will be consequences for further sanctions, US or Israeli military action, and other forms of pressure in the form of advancements in its nuclear program. The resolution sets the stage for the snapback mechanism to be triggered, potentially leading to the imposition of UN sanctions on Iran.
In a joint statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said the resolution was “politically motivated” and that it was based on “allegations dating back more than 25 years.” It said Tehran would take action in response, which includes establishing a new enrichment facility and upgrading centrifuges at an existing one.
“Accordingly, the President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has issued necessary directives for launching a new enrichment facility in a secure location, and replacing first-generation centrifuges at the Martyr Ali Mohammadi (Fordo) enrichment center with advanced sixth-generation machines,” the statement said.
The state also called out the Western countries for their lack of concern for Israel’s secret nuclear weapons program, which is not under any inspection regime. “The actions by the four countries come while the same countries remain silent on the Zionist regime’s exclusion from the NPT and its development of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. Moreover, they have taken no action against the regime’s threats to attack the peaceful nuclear facilities of NPT member states,” it said.
The IAEA resolution comes amid reports that the US is expecting Israel to attack Iran, which could lead to a full-blown war between Washington and Tehran. Amid the tensions, US and Iranian negotiators are still expected to meet this weekend.
President Trump has been demanding that Iran end its enrichment program, a condition that’s a non-starter for Tehran, and has been threatening to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities if a deal isn’t reached. The consensus of US intelligence agencies is that there is no evidence Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
