IAEA Passes Resolution on Iran

December 2025
By Kelsey Davenport

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors passed a resolution urging Iran to fully implement safeguards on its nuclear program and provide information about its stockpile of enriched uranium. The move prompted Iran to formally cancel an agreement with the agency on a process for resuming safeguards at nuclear facilities targeted by Israeli and U.S. strikes in June (See ACT, October 2025.)

Nineteen of the board’s 35 members voted in favor of the resolution, which was sponsored by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. China, Niger, and Russia voted against it, and 12 members abstained.

According to the Nov. 20 resolution, Iran “must comply fully and without qualification” with its safeguards agreement, as required by the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The resolution also urges Iran “to extend full and prompt cooperation to the IAEA.”

Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA after Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities in June. (See ACT, July/August 2025.) Tehran has since allowed the IAEA to return to undamaged facilities, such as its Bushehr nuclear reactor, but has yet to provide access or information about the damaged sites or Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

In a Nov. 19 statement issued on behalf of the four sponsoring states, UK Ambassador to the IAEA Corinne Kitsell said, “Our message is clear: Iran must resolve its safeguards issues without delay.”

Kitsell told the board that the resolution “requests no more than what Iran is already legally obligated to provide: unhindered access, precise information on nuclear material accountancy and safeguarded nuclear facilities, and restoration of necessary monitoring arrangements.”

Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi said in a Nov. 20 press conference that the resolution “will have its own consequences.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later announced that Iran notified the agency that a Sept. 9 agreement reached between the IAEA and Iran on a process for resuming safeguards at sites struck in June “is considered terminated.” Araghchi said the resolution “disrupted the process of interactions and cooperation” between the agency and Iran.

Iran had previously announced that the deal, known as the Cairo Agreement, was void, but had not formally notified the IAEA, according to a Nov. 12 agency report on Iran’s nuclear program. The report said Iran had not taken any steps to implement the Cairo agreement.

Although Iranian officials have stated that the country is no longer enriching uranium because of the damage done to its enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow, it is likely that Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent uranium-235, which is nearly the 90 percent U-235 considered weapons grade, survived the June strikes.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi told the board Nov. 19 that IAEA access to Iran’s nuclear materials to verify the inventories is “long overdue” and “needs to be addressed urgently.” The Nov. 12 report on Iran’s nuclear program said access to the enriched uranium is critical to allay concerns “regarding the possible diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful uses.”

The status of Iran’s enriched uranium is a particular concern because the 60 percent U-235 material technically can be used for a bomb, but the device would be large and unwieldy. It is more likely Iran would quickly enrich the material to weapons-grade levels, or 90 percent U-235.

Some centrifuges, the machines used to enrich uranium, also likely survived the military strikes, possibly at an enrichment facility that the IAEA never visited.

The Nov. 12 report noted that the IAEA does not know the “precise location” of the uranium enrichment facility at Esfahan that Iran declared just prior to the Israeli attack, whether it was affected by the strikes, or whether it “contains nuclear material.” The IAEA was set to visit the facility on June 13, the day the Israeli strikes began.

Although the IAEA reports raise serious concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, neither the United States nor Iran appears in a hurry to resume nuclear negotiations, and comments from officials in both countries suggest they remain far apart on the scope of talks.

In a Nov. 19 press conference, President Donald Trump said the United States “obliterated [Iran’s nuclear program] very quickly and very powerfully” and now Iran wants to “work out a deal with us.” U.S. officials stated previously that any agreement with Iran must prohibit uranium enrichment. (See ACT, October 2025.)

Kamal Kharrazi, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN in a Nov. 19 interview that Iran is willing to negotiate, but the United States has to “make the first move to show that they are ready to engage” on a basis of mutual respect. He said there must be “clarity of substance and the process of discussions,” and noted that Iran will only discuss nuclear issues with the United States. Iran’s missile program is not negotiable, Kharrazi said.

Kharrazi, however, appeared to raise doubt about whether Trump could meet those conditions. He said Trump “does not believe in diplomatic engagement.”

Kharrazi also highlighted that uranium enrichment remains a sticking point. He said Iran will negotiate the “degree of enrichment” but not enrichment itself. Trump is calling for a prohibition on enrichment in any future deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a similar point during remarks to the Tehran Dialogue Forum Nov. 16. He said Iran’s “right to enrichment … is undeniable” and Iran “would never give up [its] rights.”

“The U.S. cannot expect to gain what it couldn’t in war through negotiations,” he said.