The United Nations nuclear watchdog on Wednesday referred Iran to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in 20 years, escalating a long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program and its refusal to provide inspectors access to key sites.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board of governors approved the resolution by a vote of 23-3, with eight abstentions and one country not voting. China, Russia, and Niger opposed the measure. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany put forth the resolution.
Reporting Iran to the Security Council could result in sanctions and asset freezes, although any meaningful action is unlikely because Russia and China, both permanent members of the council, have veto power.
The resolution requests IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to report the agency’s concerns “to the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the IAEA Statute,” according to the Associated Press.
It also calls on Iran to “urgently remedy its non-compliance” with its nuclear safeguards obligations and take steps necessary to ensure the “non-diversion of nuclear material.”
The action follows an IAEA resolution adopted in June 2025 that found Iran to be noncompliant with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran has argued that normal IAEA inspections are no longer possible because of military threats and damage to its nuclear facilities. In a February 2026 response to the agency, released before the U.S. and Israel attacked, Tehran stated that “in light of prevailing circumstances,” normal implementation of safeguards in Iran was “untenable” from legal, technical, and operational perspectives.
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Since Israel and the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, Iran has denied IAEA inspectors access to affected facilities. Tehran subsequently passed a law suspending cooperation with the agency.
The dispute comes as the IAEA continues its investigation into unexplained uranium traces found at several undeclared sites in Iran. The inquiry dates back to 2018 and remains unresolved because Iran has not provided what the agency considers satisfactory explanations for the presence of the nuclear material.