IAEA Refers Iran File to UN Security Council

Diplomats said on Wednesday that the 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) approved referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council for the first time in 20 years due to its failure to comply with its non-proliferation obligations.

The decision follows a previous resolution adopted on June 12 of last year, just one day before Israel began bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, with the United States joining the attacks shortly thereafter.

The earlier resolution concluded that Iran was in a state of “non-compliance” with those obligations, but referring it to the Security Council over this breach required a separate resolution.

Although the Security Council is unlikely to take concrete action against Iran, as its allies Russia and China are permanent members with veto power, the move represents an escalation in the diplomatic confrontation between Iran and Western powers. Iran warned on Monday that it would respond if the resolution were adopted.

Diplomats who attended the IAEA’s closed-door meeting said the text, proposed by the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, was approved by 23 votes in favor, three against, and eight abstentions. They noted that the countries opposing the resolution were Russia, China, and Niger.

The resolution text states: “The Board requests the Director General of the IAEA to submit a report on this resolution and previously adopted resolutions... to all IAEA member states, as well as to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Agency’s Statute.”

Although the finding of non-compliance precedes the timing of the war between the United States and Iran, it relates to Iran’s interpretation of uranium traces found at undeclared sites, which the IAEA spent years investigating.