For the first time in nearly two decades, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has officially declared that Iran is violating its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
The IAEA’s draft resolution, viewed by Reuters, found Iran to be guilty of “many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the Agency.”
The resolution calls out Iran’s “undeclared” sites and nuclear materials in numerous instances.
Iran said in a statement following the resolution that it considers it “yet another exploitative use of the Board driven by political motives and lacking legal or technical grounds.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always adhered to its safeguards commitments, and to date, none of the IAEA’s reports have indicated any non-compliance or diversion in Iran’s nuclear materials and activities,” Iran said. “While we consider the IAEA’s report to be highly politicized and biased, these four countries went even further by drafting a resolution whose key provisions contradict the Director General’s own political report.”
Iran further declared that it “has no choice but to respond to this politically motivated resolution,” noting that it 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 development comes as the United States withdrew non-essential embassy staff from Iraq due to “heightened regional tensions.”
