Iran withdraws resolution banning attacks on nuclear sites following US pressure
Iran decided at the last minute Thursday to withdraw a resolution
prohibiting attacks on nuclear facilities that it had put forward along
with China, Russia and other countries for a vote before an annual
gathering of the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s member nations.
Western diplomats,
who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said
the U.S. has been heavily lobbying behind the scenes to prevent the
resolution from being adopted. The U.S. has raised the possibility of
reducing funding to the International Atomic Energy Agency if the
resolution was adopted and if the body moved to curtail Israel´s rights
within the agency, the diplomats said.
Daily Mail 18th Sept 2025, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-15112913/Iran-withdraws-resolution-banning-attacks-nuclear-sites-following-US-pressure.html
Iran, allies submit draft IAEA resolution to ban attacks on nuclear sites
Sep 16, 2025, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509162278
Iran and five other countries have submitted a draft resolution to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s annual general conference calling for a ban on any attack or threat of attack against nuclear sites under UN safeguards, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on X that the text, backed by China, Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Belarus, was intended “to defend the integrity of the NPT” and reaffirmed the inalienable right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
“All states must refrain from attacking or threatening to attack peaceful nuclear facilities in other countries,” Baghaei wrote. “These principles must be upheld; it is high time that the international community acted firmly to prevent the normalization of lawlessness.”
Draft resolution
The draft resolution condemns “the deliberate and unlawful attacks carried out in June 2025 against nuclear sites and facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” calling them clear violations of the UN Charter and the IAEA Statute.
It says nuclear sites under IAEA safeguards “shall not be subject to any kind of attack or threat of attack,” adding that such actions pose serious risks to international peace and security, human health, the environment, and the credibility of the non-proliferation regime.
The document also recalls UN Security Council Resolution 487 of 1981, which condemned Israel’s bombing of Iraq’s Osirak reactor, and reaffirms previous IAEA decisions prohibiting attacks on safeguarded facilities.
It further stressed that all questions regarding nuclear programs should be resolved “exclusively through dialogue and diplomacy, as the only viable path.”
Israel launched a surprise military campaign on June 13 targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites, including senior commanders and nuclear officials in a conflict that lasted 12 days. On June 22, the United States joined the campaign, striking nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Washington brokered a ceasefire on June 24.
Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami told the conference on Monday that Tehran’s atomic program “cannot be eliminated through military action,” accusing Israel and the United States of launching illegal strikes on Iranian sites in June.
“Despite our formal request, the agency did not condemn the attacks by the United States and Israel on the nuclear centers of the Islamic Republic,” Eslami said, calling the IAEA’s silence “a stain on the Agency’s history.”
Eslami said Tehran would use the conference to highlight what he called unlawful measures against its nuclear industry and to push for adoption of the draft.
The debate comes as Iran’s recent cooperation deal with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi awaits implementation and European powers press ahead with the UN “snapback” mechanism that could reinstate sanctions on Tehran by late September.
Time is now for Iran to act on inspections agreement, IAEA chief says
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on Monday
urged Iran to immediately implement the agreement it signed with the UN
watchdog last week to resume inspections at the country’s bombed nuclear
sites.
Iran International 15th Sept 2025,
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509154534
Iran hardliners reject IAEA deal, but IRGC outlet voices support
Iranian ultra-hardliners are criticizing Tehran’s recent agreement with
the IAEA in Cairo, despite its blessing by a top decision-making body
linked to the Supreme Leader, but an outlet linked to the Revolutionary
Guards offered support. The scrambled messaging suggests deep disagreement on Iran’s diplomatic path forward as renewed UN sanctions loom by months-end and arch-foe Israel continues to moot military attacks to
chasten Tehran.
Iran International 16th Sept 2025, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509158464
China, Russia urge Europe to halt UN snapback after Iran-IAEA deal
Russia called on Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday to halt their move
to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran after Tehran and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced an agreement to resume nuclear inspections suspended since June.
Iran International 10th Sept 2025, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509103977
IAEA chief notes progress in Iran talks over nuclear site inspections
Head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, says he hopes for a ‘successful conclusion’ in the coming days.
Aljazeera, 8 Sept 25
Talks on resuming International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites have made progress, but its chief warned that there was “not much” time remaining.
On Monday, the director general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, told the 35-nation IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, Austria, that “Progress has been made”…….
He did not elaborate on what the timeframe meant exactly.
While Tehran allowed inspectors from the IAEA into Iran at the end of August, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said no agreement had been reached on the resumption of full cooperation with the watchdog…….. ………………………….. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/8/iaea-chief-notes-progress-in-iran-talks-over-nuclear-site-inspections
Nuclear crisis looms as Iran faces sanctions snapback, expert warns
Time is running out to avert a nuclear crisis, Nicole Grajewski of the
Carnegie Endowment said, describing Iran’s nuclear program as a complex
file where diplomacy is limited, military strikes are insufficient, and
Europe’s snapback of UN sanctions risks sparking fresh conflict.
Grajewski told Iran International’s Eye for Iran that only Washington can
break the deadlock by re-engaging directly with Tehran and backing a short
extension that ties International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections
to credible security guarantees.
Iran International 5th Sept 2025, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509058638
Iran accuses Europe of surrendering nuclear deal to Trump’s veto
Foreign ministry official says US will be dictating what happens once UN-wide sanctions are reimposed.
Patrick Wintour in Tehran, 2 Sept 25, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/01/iran-accuses-europe-surrendering-nuclear-deal-trump-veto
Europe is on the verge of abandoning its role as a mediator between the US and Iran and instead handing the Iran nuclear file over to Donald Trump’s veto, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said in an interview with the Guardian in Tehran.
Esmail Baghaei said that as soon as UN-wide sanctions were reimposed at Europe’s demand in less than 30 days’ time, the US would regain its security council veto over what happens next, including the continuance of sanctions.
“The Europeans are doing what Trump dictated to them,” he said. “The Europeans’ role is going to be diminished. If you go back to the European foreign policy leaders in the history of the nuclear deal, Javier Solana, Cathy Ashton, Federica Mogherini, Josep Borrell, they all tried to liaise between Iran and the US.
“They tried to prove they were credible negotiating partners. But now the Europeans have decided to be the proxy of the US and Israel. It is absolutely irresponsible of them to hand over that role to the US.”
He highlighted the claim by Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, that Israel was doing “the dirty work … for all of us” by attacking Iran’s nuclear sites in June. “In a way, all of the European countries condoned what Israel did, and very likely provided information to the Israeli regime,” Baghaei said.
His remarks may be designed to put pressure on European capitals to distance themselves from the US and tone down the conditions they have set before they will agree to defer UN sanctions.
Baghaei also said the Iranian government was not constitutionally able to block Iran’s withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) if the Iranian parliament went ahead and passed a law withdrawing from it in response to the European reimposition of UN sanctions. Withdrawal from the treaty was the prerogative of parliament, he said.
The number of MPs backing an NPT withdrawal bill is due to be revealed on Tuesday but MPs said the measure was likely to be rushed through parliament with overwhelming support. Withdrawal from the NPT would mean the UN loses all rights to oversee Iran’s nuclear programme and would inevitably raise US concerns about whether Iran will build a nuclear bomb covertly or overtly.
The powerful factions in the parliament seem convinced that Iran has the firepower to inflict heavy damage on Israel in the event of a second western attack.
We are prepared because this is a matter of our dignity and sovereignty,” Baghaei said. “I think you in the UK had your blitz spirit when attacked by Nazi Germany. We have the same spirit because we knew this war imposed on us in the middle of negotiations was so unjust.”
The three European signatories to the original nuclear deal – France Germany and the UK – notified the UN last Thursday that they intended to use their right to reimpose UN-wide sanctions at the end of September unless Iran met three conditions: a return of UN weapons inspectors to the bombed Iranian nuclear sites, the handover of details of the whereabouts of its 400kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and agreement to open talks with America on the future of its nuclear programme.
Europe says there is still room for diplomacy in the coming four weeks to reach an agreement on these conditions. Baghaei described the European conditions as “a sign they are not serious and they do not have good faith”.
He said: “There is an extreme trust deficit between the UN weapons inspectors from IAEA and Iran. There is a real concern that the information gathered at the sites by the IAEA would end up being passed on to Israel.
“It has been a real concern especially after the highly politicised approach of the IAEA. We cannot ignore the fact that previous IAEA reports were abused by America and Israel to craft the resolution to the IAEA board which claimed that Iran was not in compliance with its obligations.” He said that resolution was used as a pretext for the Israeli attack on Iran in June.
He conceded that Iran’s room for diplomatic manoeuvre at the UN in the next month was limited because of the public mood in Iran.
“The fact is our public is outraged because of the unlawful attacks on our facilities and as a government we have to be accountable to our people and to our parliament,” he said.
“The western media goes on about our cooperation with the IAEA and stockpiles, but the western public has to remember the outrageous [acts] committed by Israel and the US. They torpedoed the diplomatic process, they attacked the rule of international law because our facilities have been under inspection 24 hours a day for throughout the past three decades.”
Iranian officials insist that the aim remains to reach a compromise in the next month that will allow the weapons inspectors to return. Iranian diplomats have given assurances to the IAEA that the stockpiles have not been moved. They also insist they are willing to speak to the Americans, but repeated messages sent to Washington have not been met with any response so far.
Baghaei said Iran was willing to reduce the purity level to which it enriched uranium back to 3.67%, the level set in the old nuclear deal, so long as an overall agreement was reached that preserves Iran’s right to enrich uranium domestically.
He questioned why the US was so intent on removing Iran’s right to enrich if, as Trump claimed, Iran’s ability to undertake such enrichment had been already destroyed by the joint US-Israeli attacks.
Iran parliament presses government to apply law limiting IAEA cooperation
Iran’s parliament on Tuesday urged the Foreign Ministry and Atomic
Energy Organization to fully implement existing legislation limiting
cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, amid growing
pressure from Western powers and renewed nuclear talks in Geneva. In a
strongly worded statement, the National Security and Foreign Policy
Committee of Iran’s parliament described IAEA chief Rafael Grossi as “a
servant of the US and the Zionist regime,” accusing him of siding with
hostile powers and remaining silent over attacks on Iranian nuclear sites,
according to remarks published by state media.
Iran International 26th Aug 2025, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202508262134
UN inspectors back in Iran as IAEA chief gets protection over Tehran threat
The UN nuclear watchdog’s inspectors have returned to Iran after their
expulsion during a brief war with Israel and the US, IAEA chief Rafael
Grossi said Tuesday, amid reports he has been placed under 24/7 protection
following Iran’s threat to his life. “Now the first team of IAEA inspectors
is back in Iran, and we are about to restart,” International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) director general Grossi said. Grossi, who was in Washington
DC for the annual meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management,
stopped short of saying there was an agreement or timeline for them to
resume their work. “When it comes to Iran, as you know, there are many
facilities. Some were attacked, some were not. So we are discussing what
kind of modalities, practical modalities, can be implemented in order to
facilitate the restart of our work there.”
Iran International 26th Aug 2025, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202508265100
Iran willing to reduce uranium enrichment to avoid British sanctions.
Reformist government is pushing hardline security figures to curtail nuclear programme.
Telegraph 24th Aug 2025
Iran is prepared to significantly reduce its uranium enrichment to prevent Britain reimposing United Nations sanctions, The Telegraph has been told.
Iranian officials said Tehran was willing to soften its hardline stance to avoid further military strikes from Israel and the United States.
Ali Larijani, the newly appointed secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, is leading efforts to convince the clerical regime to lower uranium enrichment to 20 per cent purity, down from 60 per cent.
The current enrichment level is approaching the roughly 90 per cent purity required for nuclear weapons development, raising international concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions…………………………………………………………………………………………https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/08/24/iran-willing-reduce-uranium-enrichment-uk-sanctions/
Iran’s nuclear chief urges IAEA to condemn Israeli terrorism.
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA), https://en.mehrnews.com/news/235334/Nuclear-chief-urges-IAEA-to-condemn-Israeli-terrorism
– Vice President and Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should condemn the Israeli regime’s killing of Iranian nuclear scientists.
He paid tribute to the memory of the martyrs of the media, the nuclear martyrs, and the recent imposed war.
“A number of institutions affiliated with the Zionist regime pretend that the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities was an act in the interest of the security of humanity. These narratives are so skillfully reflected that uninformed people believe them, and today we expect the media to stand strong and firmly against the combined war of the enemies of this land and reflect the correct narrative,” he said.
“Israel is neither a member of the NPT nor a member of the safeguards, but it has influence in the International Atomic Energy Agency and with this influence it exploits the confidential information of countries. With the support of the United States, they are carrying out evil actions in the region,” he added.
Eslami noted that during the 12-day war, a number of centers registered under the Agency’s continuous surveillance, which were monitored by 130 inspectors, were repeatedly attacked using missiles and various projectiles.
“The Americans had been planning an attack on our facilities for a long time. This is despite the fact that none of the official institutions have submitted a report on Iran’s non-compliance or deviation from the safeguards in recent years,” Eslami further stressed.
He emphasized, “A fabricated and fake case has been formed by the Zionist regime, and the accusations and excuses are nothing more than an attempt to stop Iran’s peaceful nuclear program. If their claims were true, they should have provided clear evidence. These fake statements are only a cover to prevent the progress of the Iranian nation.”
“Such double standards and efforts to prevent Iran from entering advanced scientific fields are the same hegemonic system that, at huge costs, is trying to deprive our nation of nuclear technology and other modern technologies. This approach is a tangible manifestation of their identity; the same crimes they are committing in Palestine today.”
Tehran faults UN nuclear watchdog over response to Israeli, US attacks
12 Aug 25, https://www.iranintl.com/en/202508110446
Iran on Monday criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for what it called a failure to act over Israeli and US attacks in June after talks in Tehran with the UN nuclear watchdog’s deputy director general earlier in the day.
“The Islamic Republic expressed its objection to the failure of the agency to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the Israeli and US attack and raised its demands for correcting the agency’s improper processes,” deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said.
Gharibabadi’s remarks came following a meeting with IAEA deputy director general Massimo Aparo, who was in Tehran for a brief trip on Monday. The visit marked the highest-level meeting between the IAEA and Iran since the attacks on Iranian nuclear sites badly frayed ties.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had stressed earlier that the visit would not involve nuclear inspections but rather dialogue with the agency.
In June, Iran’s parliament approved a bill to suspend the country’s cooperation with the IAEA, a day after a ceasefire with Israel.
The bill, passed with 221 votes in favor, none against, and one abstention out of 223 members present, and bars the UN nuclear watchdog’s inspectors from accessing Iran’s nuclear facilities.
At the time, Iran also accused IAEA chief Rafael Grossi of bias and failing to condemn the attacks.
On July 4, Grossi said that the agency’s team of inspectors had departed Iran to return to its headquarters in Vienna after the new law barred cooperation with the IAEA.
Israel launched a surprise military campaign on June 13 targeting military and nuclear sites, killing hundreds of military personnel, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Iran responded with missile strikes that killed 31 civilians and one off-duty soldier, according to official figures published by the Israeli government.
The Islamic Republic says 1,062 people were also killed by Israel during the 12-day conflict, including 786 military personnel and 276 civilians.
On June 22, the US carried out airstrikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The full extent of the damage remains unclear but President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the strikes “obliterated” the country’s nuclear program.
UN nuclear watchdog official to visit Iran in a bid to improve ties but no inspections planned
The deputy head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog will visit Iran in
a bid to rekindle soured ties, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister said
Sunday. There will be no inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities during the
visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency scheduled for Monday,
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. The visit would be the first
following Israel and Iran’s 12-day war in June, when some of its key
nuclear facilities were struck.
Daily Mail 10th Aug 2025. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-14987939/UN-nuclear-watchdog-official-visit-Iran-bid-improve-ties-no-inspections-planned.html
Iran holds ‘frank’ nuclear talks with European powers amid sanctions threat
Diplomatic meeting in Istanbul between Tehran and E3 countries is first since Israel and US attacked Iran in mid-June.
25 Jul 2025, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/25/iran-is-meeting-european-powers-amid-threats-of-renewed-nuclear-sanctions
Iranian diplomats say they held “frank” nuclear talks with their counterparts from Germany, the United Kingdom and France, as Tehran faces warnings that the three European nations could trigger “snapback” United Nations sanctions against the country.
The meeting in the Turkish capital, Istanbul, on Friday was the first since Israel’s mid-June attack on Iran, which led to an intensive 12-day conflict that saw the United States launch strikes against key Iranian nuclear sites.
Israel’s offensive also derailed US-Iran nuclear talks that began in April.
Since then, the European powers, known as the E3, have threatened to trigger a so-called “snapback mechanism” under a moribund 2015 nuclear deal that would reinstate UN sanctions on Iran by the end of August.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who attended Friday’s talks alongside senior Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi, said after the meeting that the parties held a “serious, frank and detailed” discussion about sanctions relief and the nuclear issue.
“While seriously criticising their stances regarding the recent war of aggression against our people, we explained our principled positions, including on the so-called snapback mechanism,” Gharibabadi said.
“It was agreed that consultations on this matter will continue.”
The European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to the 2015 deal, from which the US unilaterally withdrew in 2018.
Under the pact, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran had agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for global sanctions relief.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in an earlier interview with state news agency IRNA that Tehran considers talk of extending the UN resolution governing the deal – Security Council Resolution 2231 – to be doubly “meaningless and baseless”.
The resolution enshrines the major powers’ prerogative to restore UN sanctions. The option to trigger the snapback expires in October, and Tehran has warned of consequences should the E3 opt to activate it.
Separately, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi said on Friday that Iran has indicated it will be ready to restart technical-level discussions on its nuclear programme with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Grossi said in Singapore that Iran must be transparent about its facilities and activities.
He told reporters that the IAEA had proposed that Iran start discussions on “the modalities as to how to restart or begin [inspections] again”.
“So this is what we are planning to do, perhaps starting on technical details and, later on, moving on to high-level consultations. So this will not include inspections yet.”
In late June, after the Israeli and US attacks on the country, Iran took an unequivocal stance against the IAEA, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi summarily dismissing Grossi’s request to visit nuclear facilities that were bombed during the conflict.
“Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,” Araghchi said at the time.
Uranium enrichment
Iranian diplomats have previously warned that Tehran could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty if UN sanctions are reimposed.
Restoring the sanctions would deepen Iran’s international isolation and place further pressure on its already strained economy.
Before the June conflict, Washington and Tehran were divided over uranium enrichment, which Iran has described as a “non-negotiable” right for civilian purposes but the US calls a “red line”.
The IAEA says Iran is enriching uranium to 60 percent purity – far above the 3.67 percent cap under the 2015 deal, but well below the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade levels.
Tehran has said it is open to discussing the rate and level of enrichment, but not the right to enrich uranium.
Iran also says it will not abandon its nuclear programme, which Araghchi has called a source of “national pride”.
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