IAEA board adopted a resolution calling on Iran to grant access and provide detailed information on its nuclear materials and safeguarded sites after June strikes. The measure passed 19–3–12, with Russia, China and Niger opposing. Tehran rejected inspections of the bombed locations and warned of consequences, and visits to key sites such as Fordo and Natanz remain blocked. Earlier attempts to resume checks after a Cairo agreement faltered when the UK, France and Germany triggered a UN snapback of sanctions.
IAEA Adopts Resolution Demanding Access to Iran’s Nuclear Sites — Tehran Rejects Inspections
IAEA board adopted a resolution calling on Iran to grant access and provide detailed information on its nuclear materials and safeguarded sites after June strikes. The measure passed 19–3–12, with Russia, China and Niger opposing. Tehran rejected inspections of the bombed locations and warned of consequences, and visits to key sites such as Fordo and Natanz remain blocked. Earlier attempts to resume checks after a Cairo agreement faltered when the UK, France and Germany triggered a UN snapback of sanctions.
10:02 PM, 11/20/2025Security
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board adopted a resolution urging Iran to provide prompt access and detailed information about its nuclear materials and safeguarded facilities, citing obligations under UN resolutions. The vote came a day after IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi renewed calls for inspections at key sites damaged in June strikes.
The draft resolution demanded that "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 text was approved by 19 votes in favour, three against and 12 abstentions; Russia, China and Niger voted against the measure.
IAEA teams have carried out a number of inspections, but, Grossi said, they have not yet been permitted to visit sites reportedly struck in the June attacks, including Fordo and Natanz. "I hope we will be able. Indeed, we have to go because this is part of Iran’s commitments," he told reporters as the board met in Vienna.
Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, warned the resolution would have consequences, saying Tehran would announce its response later. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly rejected cooperating with the IAEA on the bombed sites and said Tehran would only work with the agency on facilities not affected, and only in ways that comply with IAEA regulations.
Background and diplomatic fallout
Tensions between Tehran and the watchdog have risen in recent years and intensified after the June strikes, which Iran describes as a 12-day conflict that killed more than 1,000 people and caused extensive damage. Following the attacks, a Cairo agreement between Grossi and Araghchi in early September briefly opened the door to renewed inspections, but momentum faded later that month.
The setback followed a decision by the United Kingdom, France and Germany — parties to the 2015 nuclear deal — to trigger a snapback mechanism that reactivated several UN Security Council resolutions and reinstated economic and nuclear-related restrictions. Tehran rejects accusations that it breached its commitments and said the snapback undermined the Cairo understanding.
Separately, then-US President Donald Trump said he believed Tehran was open to diplomacy and suggested talks could be possible, while reminding that the United States had withdrawn from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.
Resolution excerpt: "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 IAEA resolution underscores continuing international concern about Iran's nuclear programme and the challenges of securing unfettered access amid heightened regional tensions and contested diplomacy.