IAEA Board Resolution Against Iran; Tehran Announces Installation of New Centrifuges

The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned Iran's nuclear activities and issued a resolution calling for immediate cooperation from Tehran with the agency, requesting the Director General to prepare a "comprehensive report" on Iran. In its initial response to the reprimanding resolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran announced it would activate advanced centrifuges. The Israeli Foreign Minister also stated that 2025 would be a year full of stories. This resolution, which is the second reprimanding resolution against Iran in the past six months, was approved on Thursday evening, November 23. The reprimanding resolution against Iran was passed with 19 votes in favor and 12 abstentions, with China, Russia, and Burkina Faso being the three countries that voted against it. Venezuela was not allowed to vote due to non-payment of its membership dues. The draft of this resolution was proposed by France, Germany, and the UK, with support from the United States. These three European countries had previously issued a joint statement calling for an immediate reduction of Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles to 60 percent. Some diplomats at the agency told the Associated Press that this resolution lays the groundwork for European countries to reinstate sanctions against Iran in October of next year, when the so-called "sunset clause" in the JCPOA expires. According to Reuters, the new IAEA resolution again calls on Iran to immediately provide credible explanations for long-standing agency questions regarding the discovery of uranium traces at undeclared sites. The previous two reprimanding resolutions, passed in November 2022 and June of this year, emphasized the "necessity and urgency" of Iran's responses to remaining questions. The resolution also requests the Director General of the agency to prepare a "comprehensive report" on the status of Iran's nuclear activities and present it for review at the next Board meeting in March 2025. Based on this resolution, the Director General's report must provide "a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the existence or potential use of undeclared nuclear materials in relation to past and present outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear program, including a full report on Iran's cooperation with the agency on these matters." Western powers hope that the new resolution will pressure Iran to negotiate a new nuclear agreement. UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the previous nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA, will expire on October 18, 2025, ending nuclear restrictions against Iran. Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Foreign Minister, recently warned that if negotiations for a new agreement are not conducted before this date, "European countries still in the JCPOA may seek to activate the snapback mechanism." On the other hand, Reuters added that despite current efforts to bring Iran back to nuclear negotiations, it is unclear whether Donald Trump will support such negotiations in his new presidential term. Donald Trump officially announced the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018 and implemented a policy of maximum pressure against Iran. Since then, Iranian officials have increased nuclear activities in several phases, raising uranium enrichment levels to 60 percent, close to the level required for nuclear weapons production. Shortly before the resolution was issued at the Board of Governors, Ali Larijani, advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran, proposed negotiations for a "next agreement" to the incoming U.S. administration. Larijani stated, "If the Trump administration considers the JCPOA and its provisions ineffective, Iran is willing to negotiate and sign results on a 'next agreement' if the U.S. accepts certain conditions." In its initial reaction to the issuance of the reprimanding resolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran announced it would activate advanced centrifuges. Iranian media immediately published a text as a "joint statement from the Foreign Ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran" after the news of the Board of Governors' resolution was released. According to this joint statement, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization "issued an order for effective actions, including the activation of a significant number of new and advanced centrifuges of various types." This joint statement sharply criticized France, the UK, and Germany, accusing them of adopting a "politically motivated, unrealistic, and destructive approach" towards Iran and claiming that their proposed resolution was presented at a time when "Iran and the agency were on a path of constructive interaction." Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the agency, visited Iran about ten days ago and announced after his return that Iran intends not to increase its stock of uranium enriched to 60 percent beyond the current level. According to Reuters, the three European countries deemed Iran's last-minute proposal to limit its uranium stockpiles as "insufficient and insincere." Reuters also reported that Iran's proposal was conditional on the non-issuance of the resolution. Previously, Rafael Grossi had reported that the amount of Iran's 60 percent enriched uranium reserves had increased by about 18 kilograms in recent months, reaching 182 kilograms. Iranian officials have always emphasized the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities but have recently spoken of the possibility of a "change in nuclear and military doctrine." The representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the agency also reacted to this resolution by stating that the results of Rafael Grossi's visit to Iran were not taken into account in the process that took place in Vienna, "while the recent visit of the agency's Director General to Iran yielded good results, the promises made were fulfilled, and a roadmap was agreed upon between Iran and the Director General."