US, EU Push to Refer Iran Nuclear Program to UN Security Council

The United States and the "European Troika", Britain, France, and Germany, are working to gather support from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors members to pass a resolution next week that would refer Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council for the first time in two decades. According to diplomats cited by Reuters, the draft resolution has not yet been formally submitted, and negotiations over its final wording are ongoing.

This proposed resolution follows a June 2023 decision by the Board of Governors, which found Iran in violation of its non-proliferation commitments due to incomplete cooperation with an investigation into uranium traces found at undeclared sites. Following that decision, Israel reportedly conducted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, joined by the United States, causing significant damage to uranium enrichment facilities. Since then, Iran has barred IAEA inspectors from returning to the bombed sites and from verifying its enriched uranium stockpiles, including material enriched to near weapons-grade levels of 60 percent.

The referral to the Security Council represents a culmination of an ongoing dispute between Tehran and the IAEA regarding access to these sites. The Board of Governors has passed two resolutions over the past year demanding Iran disclose its enriched uranium stockpiles and grant the agency full access for verification.