ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations nuclear watchdog’s 35-member Board of Governors on Wednesday adopted a resolution requiring Iran to provide immediate, verifiable declarations of its remaining enriched uranium stockpiles.
The resolution, backed by the United States and the E3 nations - Britain, France, and Germany - states that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board “deeply regrets Iran’s continued failure to remedy its non-compliance over the past 12 months.”
It formally demanded that Tehran grant IAEA inspectors access to trace and verify “previously declared nuclear material that the Agency has been unable to verify for one year.”
The move comes days after the IAEA on Thursday released its quarterly Safeguards and Verification report, which described a “near-total, ongoing loss of monitoring” across Iranian nuclear facilities. The reports noted that inspectors can no longer verify the size, location, or exact chemical composition of the country’s enriched uranium stockpiles.
Particular concern was directed toward an underground tunnel complex in Iran’s central Isfahan province, which the IAEA identified as a principal storage site for uranium enriched to 20 and 60 percent.
The resolution was adopted during a closed-door session in Vienna by a vote of 21 in favor, three against, and 10 abstentions. Russia, China, and Niger voted against the measure, while Venezuela was barred from participating because of restrictions on its voting rights.
In a joint policy statement delivered to the assembly, the European Union delegation cited IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi as reporting that the agency “has lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the previously declared inventories of nuclear material in Iran and its enrichment capacities, including low and highly enriched uranium.”
“This is a matter of proliferation concern and of compliance with the NPT Safeguards Agreement,” the EU delegation stated, emphasizing the legal implications of a “snapback” mechanism that reinstated United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions.
“The reinstatement of six UNSC resolutions, including financial and nuclear restrictions, as a result of snapback, requires Iran, inter alia, to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment,” the delegation added.
RELATED: E3 moves to reactivate ‘snapback mechanism’ against Iran
_(1).jpg&w=3840&q=75)
