Shafaqna Pakistan:The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-member Board of Governors has passed a resolution referring Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years over alleged breaches of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations, diplomats said on Wednesday.
The resolution follows an earlier measure adopted on June 12 last year, a day before Israel began strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities that were later joined by the United States. That resolution found Iran in “non-compliance” with its obligations, but a separate measure was required to refer the matter to the Security Council.
Although the Security Council is unlikely to take concrete action against Iran, given that its allies Russia and China are permanent members with veto power, the referral represents a significant escalation in the diplomatic standoff between Tehran and Western powers.
Iran had warned on Monday that it would retaliate if the resolution was adopted.
Iran, Russia, China oppose Western nuclear push
Iran, Russia and China have rejected the draft resolution, saying the move has no legal basis.
The three countries said the draft resolution “ignores attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities” and was “aimed at increasing pressure on Tehran and weakening Iran-IAEA cooperation”.
They also said any attempt to activate the “snapback” mechanism after the expiry of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 “has no legal effect”.
The statement condemned attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and said the “current security conditions have made the normal implementation of IAEA safeguards in Iran impossible”.
Iran, Russia and China urged IAEA member states not to support the Western-drafted resolution.
The three countries’ opposition comes as Western powers seek to increase pressure on Tehran through international institutions over its nuclear programme.
Iran says US is ‘delusional’
An initial reaction by Iran’s mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, however, did not mention retaliation.
“Once again, a political resolution on Iran is nonconsensually adopted by the #IAEA BoG (Board of Governors),” it said on X, referring to the fact the resolution was voted on rather than adopted without any country objecting.
While the finding of non-compliance predates the war between the United States and Iran and concerns Tehran’s failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites that the agency spent years investigating, there is now another standoff over IAEA access to the sites bombed by Israel and the US.
Source: Express Tribune
