IAEA Board passes Iran resolution as West pushes Tehran towards talks

The UN atomic watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday again ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the agency and requesting a "comprehensive" report aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks.

Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which proposed the resolution, dismissed as insufficient and insincere, a last-minute Iranian move to cap its stock of uranium that is close to weapons-grade. 

Iran tends to bristle at such resolutions and has said it would respond kindly to this one. After previous criticism at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board, it has stepped up its nuclear activities and reduced IAEA oversight.

China, Russia and Burkina Faso voted against the text, diplomats in the meeting told Reuters. Nineteen countries voted in favor and 12 abstained.

The resolution seen by Reuters repeated wording from a November 2022 resolution that it was "essential and urgent" for Iran to explain the uranium traces found at undeclared sites and let the IAEA take samples as necessary. The resolution in June of this year did the same.

The new text asked the IAEA to issue "a comprehensive and updated assessment on the possible presence or use of undeclared nuclear material in connection with past and present outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear program, including a full account of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA on these issues".

Western powers hope that the report, due by spring 2025, will pressure Iran into fresh restrictions negotiations on its nuclear activities.

If no new limits are agreed before then, the report could be used to strengthen the case for so-called "snapback", a process under the 2015 deal where the issue is sent to the UN Security Council and sanctions lifted under the deal can be re-imposed.

With the resolution passed, Iran is likely to respond.

Moments after the vote, Iranian state media cited a joint statement by the foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran saying Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami has issued orders for measures like activating various new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium.

"If there is a resolution, it (Iran) will either increase its activities or reduce the agency's access," a senior diplomat said before the vote.

(With input from Reuters)