Vienna. The 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has passed a resolution to report Iran to the UN Security Council over alleged violations of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
This is the first time in nearly 20 years that Iran’s issue has been referred to the Security Council in this manner. 23 countries voted in favor of this resolution proposed by America, Britain, France and Germany, while Russia, China and Niger opposed it. Eight countries abstained from voting.
This decision comes after the IAEA’s resolution passed in June 2025, in which Iran was found not to be in compliance with nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
The existing resolution calls on the IAEA Director-General to report related proposals to the agency’s member states as well as to the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.
However, due to Russia and China being permanent members of the Security Council and having veto rights, the possibility of immediate concrete action against Iran is considered limited.
Despite this, this step is going to further increase the ongoing diplomatic tension between Iran and Western countries. Iran has already warned that it will take retaliatory measures if the resolution is passed.