IAEA board passes resolution demanding Iran declare uranium stockpiles
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding Iran declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and allow inspectors to verify them.
The resolution, backed by the US, Britain, France and Germany, passed with 21 votes in favor, three against and 10 abstentions. Russia, China and Niger voted against.
The vote came hours after the US and Iran exchanged military strikes following President Donald Trump’s assertion that Iran had downed a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.
Since last June’s US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear infrastructure, the UN nuclear watchdog has been unable to verify Iran’s stockpile of 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned the material could theoretically produce up to 10 nuclear bombs. Although many of Iran’s enrichment plants were destroyed or heavily damaged, much of the enriched uranium, including material close to weapons grade, is believed to have survived.
Iran has neither informed the IAEA of the material’s fate nor allowed inspectors back into the bombed sites. Tehran denies pursuing nuclear weapons.
In a post on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the vote necessary and long overdue. “The Iranian regime’s refusal to cooperate, grant access, and address its non-compliance cannot continue,” he said.
Iranian state-affiliated Mehr News Agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi calling the resolution “a dangerous attempt to whitewash accountability for aggressors,” arguing the US struck safeguarded facilities and is now using the Board of Governors to pressure Tehran.
WANA reported that Iran’s mission in Vienna responded by warning the resolution “will be met with an immediate and proportionate response” and questioning how the IAEA can be trusted when it is “instrumentalized by warmongers.”
