IAEA: Iran nuclear access lost over a year as West seeks UN referral — SkimNews
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- IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the agency's 35-member Board of Governors on Monday that Iran provided no information during the latest reporting period on its declared nuclear material or facilities, and inspectors have been unable to conduct on-site verification.
- The watchdog has lost continuity of knowledge for more than a year over previously declared uranium stocks enriched to as much as 60 percent at facilities struck in US and Israeli attacks in June 2025, Grossi said, calling the gap a proliferation concern requiring "the utmost urgency."
- France, Germany, the UK and the US are seeking support for a draft resolution that would refer Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in two decades, asking Grossi to transmit the resolution, prior board decisions, and his latest report to the UNSC and General Assembly.
- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei rejected the move as Western governments "running out of options" and argued that lost inspector access was a consequence of US and Israeli strikes, warning Iran would take "necessary measures" if the resolution proceeded.
- The draft has not yet been formally submitted and wording negotiations continue; even if approved, concrete Security Council action could be blocked by Russia and China, two of the five permanent veto powers.
Why it matters: A successful UNSC referral would mark the first such action against Iran in two decades and could reopen sanctions pathways, but Russia's and China's veto power makes the diplomatic track effectively dead on arrival — meaning the Western push functions more as a pressure lever on Tehran than as a binding mechanism, while Iran retains leverage through its warning of unspecified "necessary measures."
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