The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has sounded a fresh alarm over its inability to verify Iran's nuclear programme, as France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States press for a resolution that would send Tehran's nuclear file back to the UN Security Council for the first time in two decades.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the agency's 35-member Board of Governors on Monday that Iran had provided no information during the latest reporting period on the status of its declared nuclear material or facilities, and that inspectors had been unable to conduct on-site verification. "It is more than a year since the Agency lost continuity of knowledge" over previously declared stocks of uranium enriched to as much as 60 percent — stocks held at facilities struck during US and Israeli military attacks in June 2025. Grossi described the situation as a proliferation concern that "needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency" and called on Tehran to restore effective cooperation with the watchdog.
Iran has rejected the proposed referral and maintains that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei argued that restrictions on IAEA inspectors were a direct consequence of the US and Israeli strikes on Iranian enrichment infrastructure, and that it was unreasonable to hold Tehran responsible for the resulting loss of access. He accused Western governments of turning to the IAEA after failing to achieve their objectives through other means, and warned that Iran would take "necessary measures" if the resolution moved forward. Grossi himself raised a procedural concern, suggesting that pursuing Security Council oversight through existing mechanisms could inadvertently validate the positions of Iran, Russia and China, who have argued that the so-called snapback sanctions mechanism — a tool allowing the reimposition of UN sanctions — is legally questionable.
The draft resolution, which has not yet been formally submitted to the board, would ask Grossi to transmit the resolution, previous board decisions and his latest report to both the Security Council and the UN General Assembly. Negotiations over the text are continuing. Even if the board approves the measure, any concrete action at the Security Council could be blocked by Russia and China, both of which hold permanent veto powers.
The diplomatic pressure over Iran's nuclear activities is unfolding against a broader backdrop of regional tension. Iranian officials have simultaneously announced the near-completion of a safe-transit corridor agreement with Oman for the Strait of Hormuz — the strategic waterway through which a significant share of global oil shipments pass — while senior Iranian figures have warned that vessels entering a separately declared exclusion zone in the Persian Gulf without Tehran's coordination risk being placed on Iranian sanctions lists. Iran's parliament speaker also warned that US energy assets across regional waters could face retaliatory strikes. Taken together, the nuclear standoff and the maritime warnings signal a sharply elevated level of confrontation between Iran and Western-aligned powers, with diplomatic options narrowing on multiple fronts.