UN nuclear watchdog finds Iran in breach of non-proliferation duties

Tehran says it will open a new enrichment site

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second right, and the chief of the country's Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Eslami, right, in Tehran. AFP

The UN nuclear watchdog's 35-nation board of governors passed a resolution on Thursday formally declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years, a move Tehran claimed was "clearly designed to produce a crisis".

Iran also said it would open a new uranium enrichment site, leading experts to warn that the danger of an Israeli-US attack on Iran had increased significantly.

The board said Tehran had consistently failed to provide information on “undeclared nuclear material and activities” at “multiple undeclared locations”.

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Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi strongly denied the allegations and raised the diplomatic stakes by suggesting western countries were manufacturing a crisis in the region. "Falsely accusing Iran of violating safeguards – based on shoddy and politicised reporting – is clearly designed to produce a crisis," he said on X.

Iran has the support of Russia, whose IAEA ambassador in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, criticised the resolution. He said accusations that Tehran breached the 2015 nuclear deal “without due consideration of the entire range of factors” were “nothing more than a deliberate distortion of reality”.

An anti-American mural in Tehran. Tension has increased between the US and Iran. Reuters

He claimed that the US “deliberately sabotaged the implementation of the nuclear deal” and preferred the “futile path” of imposing sanctions under its maximum pressure policy.

In remarks that will deepen the rift with Washington, which had appeared to have improved after Donald Trump's engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin over a ceasefire in Ukraine, Mr Ulyanov condemned the US President’s “illegal withdrawal” from 2015 deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Nineteen countries on the IAEA board voted for the resolution on Iran, with Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposing it. Eleven countries abstained and two did not vote.

In the four-page resolution, the IAEA said that, despite “numerous opportunities", Tehran had “failed to provide the co-operation required under its safeguards agreement”. It impeded the agency’s verification activities and “repeatedly failed to provide the agency with technically credible explanations for the presence of uranium … at several undeclared locations in Iran”.

Iran has also failed to declare “nuclear material and nuclear-related activities” at three locations – Lavisan-Shian, Varamin and Turquzabad – where it used “undeclared nuclear material”, the IAEA added.

Iran has consistently made “concealment efforts”, given “inaccurate explanations” and been a “significant impediment” to the agency's ability to clarify the nature of Iran's nuclear programme, which Tehran has said is peaceful.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. AFP

It said it regretted that Iran has been unable to provide “technically credible explanations regarding undeclared nuclear material” and “failed to co-operate fully” with the safeguards agreement, required under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The agency was also unable to verify that there had been “no diversion of nuclear material … to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices”.

It called on Iran to fulfil its legal obligations and provide a credible explanation for the presence of uranium at the undeclared areas and inform the IAEA about the locations of all nuclear material.

Iran said it had always adhered to its safeguard obligations, calling the resolution “completely political and biased”, the Tasnim news agency quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying. It added that Tehran was left with “no other choice but to respond” to the IAEA and that a new enrichment centre would be set up in a “safe zone”.

The declaration that Iran is in breach of its non-proliferation obligations will further complicate the next round of nuclear talks with the US scheduled for Sunday in Oman, state media reported Mr Araqchi as saying.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that the country would rebuild its nuclear sites if they were destroyed, state media reported. "It is not the case that if they destroy our facilities with bombs, everything will be lost – these capabilities exist in our minds and therefore, whatever they do, we will rebuild again," Mr Pezeshkian said.

The resolution is the latest development amid rising tension between the US and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme. It comes after Washington announced it was preparing to evacuate non-essential personnel from its embassy in Baghdad and regional bases, and as nuclear talks between the countries appear at an impasse.

The resolution was initially put forward by the UK, France, Germany and the US. It could be referred to the UN Security Council if Tehran does not provide answers.

The move will harden support in Washington for a co-ordinated attack by the US and Israel to destroy Iran's nuclear capacity and topple the regime, a leading Israeli security figure told The National.

“If Israel or the United States or both attack Iran we are in World War Three,” said Prof Kobi Michael, of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. “Because this is not only about Israel, Iran or the United States, but we have Russia, China and many other players.”

In the past 24 hours, the US has evacuated all non-essential personnel from some embassies in the region. Satellite imagery from last month shows 10 heavy bombers in the US Indian Ocean airbase of Diego Garcia, comprising six B-2 stealth and four B-52 aircraft.

It is understood the UK is reviewing its evacuation plans and travel advice to the region, although there are currently no “drawdown plans” for staff.

Secret programme

US intelligence services and the IAEA believe Iran had a secret nuclear weapons programme that was halted in 2003, although isolated experiments continued for several years. IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said this week that the findings of the agency's investigation were broadly consistent with that belief.

Iran had at least three undeclared nuclear sites until the early 2000s, but refuses to provide “credible answers” about its activities at those locations, the IAEA said this week.

The Varamin, Marivan and Turquzabad sites were accessed by inspectors from the agency in 2019 and 2020. Uranium particles were detected at the sites.

The lack of answers means the IAEA cannot conclude that Iran's nuclear programme is “entirely peaceful”, Mr Grossi said. He accused Tehran of seeking to “sanitise the locations”, impeding the agency's work.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi has criticised Iran. Reuters

Details of the three sites were revealed in the IAEA’s quarterly report, which was widely leaked last week. It found that Iran had an estimated 400kg of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent as of May 17, marking an increase of more than 133kg since the last report in February.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry called on the international community to “respond decisively” and prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. “Iran has consistently obstructed the IAEA's verification and monitoring, it removed inspectors, and it sanitised and concealed suspected undeclared locations in Iran,” the ministry said on social media.

Non-proliferation duties

In 2006, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran over a failure to comply with demands to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment and reprocessing. Iran was blocked from importing or exporting sensitive nuclear material and equipment, while authorities froze the assets of people or entities involved in its nuclear programme.

The move, called Resolution 1737 (2006), was adopted unanimously. Under the terms, the council also ordered Iran to suspend nuclear research and its work on all heavy-water projects, including the construction of a research reactor.

It also said all states should prevent the supply, sale or transfer to Iran of equipment and technology that could be used in its nuclear activities.