Map Shows Iran's Adversaries in Key Nuclear Vote
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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors has declared that Iran has not complied with its nuclear obligations in a vote following a resolution, backed by the United States and the E3 (Britain, France, and Germany).
The resolution was passed with 19 votes in favor. Three countries voted against, 11 abstained and two countries did not vote, according to multiple media reports.
Iran described it as a "politically motivated" resolution and said it will build a new uranium enrichment facility in a secure location, state media Press TV reported after the vote.
Newsweek has contacted the IAEA for comment.
Why It Matters
The IAEA resolution could lead to the reimposition of sanctions on Iran under UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Iran has warned this would trigger a strong response, including limiting IAEA cooperation, boosting uranium enrichment, or quitting the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Increased tensions raise the risk of military escalation between Iran and the United States—with prospects also rising for an Israeli strike—which could trigger a wider Middle East conflict involving regional allies.
What To Know
On Thursday, the UN nuclear watchdog's board of governors officially determined that Iran has failed to meet its nuclear obligations for the first time in two decades, with 19 countries voting for the resolution, according to The Associated Press.
The resolution said "Iran failed to provide credible explanations for nuclear material at three undeclared locations," according to a copy published by Al-Jazeera English TV channel.
The IAEA held a board session Wednesday on Iran's nuclear program, during which Britain, France, and Germany warned Iran that its escalating nuclear activities—such as 60 percent enrichment of uranium and expansion of centrifuge and stockpile limits—undermine the JCPOA, a 2015 deal with Iran, but did not call for immediate punitive steps.
The resolution seeks to prompt Iran to resolve the issue without immediately referring its non-compliance to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions, giving Iran a window to address six years of outstanding requests, a Western diplomat told The Associated Press earlier in June.
The push followed IAEA chief Rafael Grossi's reports uncovering undisclosed nuclear activities in Iran. Grossi said Iran had undermined the agency's ability to monitor Iran's JCPOA commitments and removed all related surveillance and monitoring equipment in 2022.
Timely meeting in Cairo with Egypt's @MfaEgypt Badr Abdelatty and Iran's Foreign Minister @araghchi.
Grateful for Egypt's constructive role in supporting peaceful, diplomatic solutions to regional challenges. pic.twitter.com/48ImXtJInj — Rafael Mariano Grossi (@rafaelmgrossi) June 2, 2025
Iran criticized the resolution and dismissed Grossi's report, warning of serious consequences if the U.N. Security Council imposes new sanctions, Iran's UN Ambassador Reza Najafi told the board, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Russia's envoy to the IAEA, Mikhail Ulyanov, supported Tehran's position, saying that "the United States and then the E3 deliberately sabotaged the implementation of the nuclear deal," he said, referring to the JCPOA."
Gulf states and other Arab and Middle East countries have supported diplomatic efforts and mediated rapprochement with Iran, but remain cautious and neutral, mindful that regional security would be at serious risk if war erupts.
The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear deal which lifted sanctions in exchange for nuclear limits, was disrupted by the U.S. withdrawal in 2018 and is set to fully expire in October 2025.
What People Are Saying
U.S. President Donald trump told "Pod Force One" podcast on the nuclear deal: "I'm getting more and more less confident about it. They seem to be delaying, I think that's a shame. I'm less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago.
Reza Najafi, Iran's Permanent Ambassador to the UN office and international organizations in Vienna, as quoted by IRNA: "Since the E3 has seriously violated Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA, they are neither in a moral nor legal position to activate the snapback mechanism. If such a scenario unfolds, Iran's options will be firm, and the United States and the E3 will bear full responsibility."
France, Germany and the UK (E3) joint statement, published by the British government's website: "Iran must halt and reverse its nuclear escalation and refrain from making threats regarding a change of its nuclear doctrine, which are in themselves highly destabilising and not consistent with Iran's status as a state without nuclear weapons under the NPT."
What Happens Next
Washington and Tehran are scheduled to resume nuclear negotiations on Sunday in Oman amid key disagreements on enrichment and sanctions' relief.
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USA Today
31 minutes ago
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I'm Oppenheimer's grandson. We can still go from crisis to conversation on Iran.
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Robert Oppenheimer to push for a safer future. So I'm proposing something unconventional: an 'Oppenheimer Dinner,' inviting representatives from Washington, Beijing and Moscow to a private, off-the-record dialogue about how to reduce the risk of real nuclear war ‒ and discuss the positive side of nuclear energy. Dialogue alone won't solve the problem. But it's where every solution begins. It also allows us to talk about the hopeful side of nuclear science. The same technology that could destroy civilization can also power it, giving us clean energy, medical breakthroughs and global prosperity. It's up to us to choose which future we want ‒ and there is no time like the present. 'We can have each other to dinner. We ourselves, and with each other by our converse, can create not an architecture of global scope, but an immense, intricate network of intimacy, illumination, and understanding.' — J. 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President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 25, 2024, in Washington. Photo:Almost exactly 10 years ago, as the U.S. was the cusp of sealing a historic agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program, Barack Obama offered a warning to those who were working to tank the accord: 'Let's not mince words: The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some form of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon.' Obama struck the deal in 2015, but less than three years later, during President Donald Trump's first term, the U.S. unilaterally violated the agreement. After a short time, the deal was dead. Then came the war Obama had predicted. This month, Israel unleashed barrages of missiles, bombs, and drone attacks against Iranian military installations, nuclear facilities, and residential neighborhoods. Iran undertook retaliatory strikes at Israel. 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Advisers like Brett McGurk, who has been advocating for and celebrating America's entry into Israel's war on Iran on CNN over the past two weeks, dutifully complied. Negotiations started, but they were circular, undermined by congressional hawks and Israeli sabotage — including a 2021 Israeli attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility just as negotiations were finally getting underway. Ultimately, Biden's team missed the window for a deal. Ultimately, Biden's team missed the window for a deal before a harsh critic of the original nuclear agreement was sworn in as Iran's president. Iran's nuclear program advanced by leaps and strides, with Iran becoming capable of producing enough enriched material for a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks. By the end of Biden's term, his advisers were not debating a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue but rather were debating their own military strikes on Iran to set back its program. The nuclear crisis — imminently resolvable under Biden — was instead made worse throughout his term in office and then handed to Trump, who acted wisely at first in engaging in nuclear negotiations with Iran but eventually caved to Netanyahu. Now, hundreds of innocent people have been killed, destruction has been wrought in Israel and Iran, and we are much worse off in terms of Iran's capabilities — and intentions — than we were 10 years ago. Time will tell if Trump will embrace the diplomacy-first leadership he briefly demonstrated earlier this year, or if he will hew closer to Biden's feckless deference to Netanyahu. The latter course brings tremendous risks — like dragging the U.S. into an endless campaign of sending in more and more bombers to 'mow the lawn' in Iran because the diplomatic options, like Obama's deal, have been left in tatters. At the time of his nuclear deal, Obama was attacked by hawks for 'kicking the can down the road' because it merely set back Iran's nuclear capabilities by 15 years. Flash forward to today, and those same figures are cheering for Trump's military strikes on Iran as some decisive victory, even though most estimates say Israel and America's 12-day campaign only set Iran's nuclear program back by as little as a month. And unlike Obama's deal that imposed permanent restrictions and intrusive inspections over every element of Iran's enrichment program, Trump administration officials including Vice President JD Vance acknowledge that the bombing did not eliminate Iran's nuclear program but did drive Iran to move its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to a secret location. The lessons here are clear. Obama was borne out. The only demonstrable way to concretely limit Iran's nuclear program is through diplomacy. To fail at striking a deal is to risk war — possibly another disastrous American war in the Middle East. We should hold everyone to account whose limited imaginations — whose inability to take needed steps in the face of pro-Israel pressure — prevented a nuclear deal. If we are to learn the lessons of this 12-day war, that list must include Joe Biden.
