The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors on Thursday passed a resolution demanding that Iran submit “without delay” the status of its enriched-uranium stockpile and its bombed nuclear sites, according to Reuters.
“Iran must … provide the agency without delay with precise information on nuclear material accountancy and safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran, and grant the agency all access it requires to verify this information,” the draft resolution said.
UN Resolution
The move seeks basically to renew and refine the International Atomic Energy Agency’s mandate to monitor key aspects of Iran’s nuclear program.
However, the IAEA also explained that Tehran must swiftly grant the IAEA the information and access it has been seeking, five months after Israel and US attacked Iranian nuclear sites.
Before the US and Europe’s top three powers passed this resolution, Iran warned that its passage would “adversely affect” Tehran’s cooperation with the agency.
“Our message is clear: Iran must resolve its safeguards issues without delay. It must provide practical cooperation through access, answers, restoration of monitoring, to enable the agency to do its job and help rebuild confidence,” the US, Britain, France and Germany said in a statement to the board.
The resolution has received 19 votes in favor, three against, and 12 abstentions. The countries that rejected the resolution were Russia, China and Niger.
No Access to Nuclear Facilities
Notably, the UN Nuclear Watchdog remains unable to inspect the bombed facilities or verify Iran’s enriched-uranium stockpile until Tehran submits a formal report detailing the status of the sites.
This month, Iran announced that inspectors of the IAEA had visited Iranian nuclear sites.
The IAEA has implemented several inspections in Iran since hostilities with Israel in June.
However, the inspectors noted that Iranian authorities had not given them access to nuclear facilities such as Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, which were severely damaged by the United States attacks.
Iranian Nuclear Program
Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the IAEA of providing Israel with a pretext for its bombing campaign, noting that Israeli attacks began the day after the agency’s board voted to declare Tehran in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
On September 28, the European powers_ Britain, France, and Germany_ reimposed sanctions on Tehran after they claimed that Iran has violated a 2015 deal that aimed at halting it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran has denied this accusation and said that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
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