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By Tom O'Connor
Deputy Editor, National Security and Foreign Policy
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Iranian officials have criticized the United States and its allies over their successful votes to censure Iran through the United Nation's atomic watchdog over an uptick in the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities.
The decision came Wednesday via the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with 20 of 35 board members supported the rare rebuke, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the U.S., while 12 abstained and two, China and Russia, opposed it, according to unnamed diplomats. One board member state did not vote, according to the report, which was later confirmed by Russia's Mission to the IAEA.
"The decision made by Western countries was both hasty and unwise," the Iranian Mission to the U.N. told Newsweek, "and it will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on the process of diplomatic engagement and constructive cooperation."
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Washington's decision to back the move came despite reservations from President Joe Biden's administration, which has officially sought a return to the multilateral nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The historic deal, which lifted international sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions to its nuclear program, was forged under President Barack Obama in 2015 and unilaterally abandoned by President Donald Trump in 2018.
Since the return of U.S. sanctions, Iran has gradually reduced its commitments to the deal. Negotiations pursued under Biden to restore full U.S. and Iranian participation in the JCPOA ultimately unraveled in late 2022.
Following an IAEA report issued last week highlighting even higher levels of Iranian uranium enrichment above JCPOA limits, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Mohammed Eslami told reporters Tuesday that Tehran would continue to take steps away from the agreement until sanctions were again lifted and vowed to respond to any IAEA censure.
Iran has always maintained that it did not seek to develop a nuclear weapon, a position held for decades in line with a fatwa, an Islamic religious ruling, issued by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But a number of senior Iranian officials, including an adviser to Khamenei, have come out in recent months suggesting potential shifts to the doctrine in the event that the nation was threatened directly by Israel amid soaring regional tensions over the war in Gaza.
Last month, the Iranian Mission to the U.N. told Newsweek that "Iran's nuclear doctrine remains unchanged" and "Iran will continue to adhere to the Supreme Leader's fatwa, which unequivocally prohibits the production, procurement, stockpiling, and use of any form of weapons of mass destruction."
However, the Mission added at the time that "in the event of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, all of which are subject to monitoring and inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency, there exists a possibility of Iran reconsidering its collaboration within the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA."
Newsweek has reached out to the IAEA for comment.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department referred Newsweek to comments made by U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA Laura Holgate prior to the vote on Wednesday.
Holgate referred to "a deeply troubling and steady drumbeat of recent statements from senior Iranian officials threatening that Iran may reconsider its stated nuclear doctrine and asserting that Iran has all the technical capabilities needed to quickly to build nuclear weapons should it decide to do so."
She also accused Tehran of failing to sufficiently cooperate with the IAEA and of responding to the watchdog's resolutions "with escalation instead of cooperation."
Still, she argued, "make no mistake, it is important that resolutions be tied to a broader strategy," and called for the censure to "be a first step in a strategy aimed at achieving a sustainable, effective solution to Iran's nuclear program that includes full cooperation with the IAEA."
The State Department spokesperson also told Newsweek that, "we have long said that, ultimately, we view diplomacy as the best way to achieve a sustainable, effective solution with regards to Iran's nuclear program."
"But given Iran's escalation across the board, including its nuclear escalations and its failure to cooperate with the IAEA," the spokesperson added, "we are far away from anything like that right now, and all options remain on the table."
The IAEA censure, which had been submitted by France, Germany and the U.K., was criticized, however, by Russia's Ambassador to the IAEA Mikhail Ulyanov who echoed Iran's opposition on social media following the vote on Wednesday.
"#Russia and #China voted against anti-Iranian resolution in the #IAEA Board of Governors, because its adoption can significantly complicate cooperation between the IAEA Secretariat and #Tehran," Ulyanov wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "For a similar reason 12 states from 'the Global South' abstained."
The current members of the IAEA Board of Governors are Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Namibia, Netherlands, Paraguay, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the U.S., Uruguay and Ukraine.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the IAEA censure, the latest targeting Iran since November 2022, arguing that it "emphasizes the danger Iran poses to global security and stability and underscores the free world's determination to halt Iran's nuclear program."
"Israel will continue to expose Iran's true nature to the world," Katz said in a statement published to X. "We must not stop here. The free world must stop Iran now – before it's too late."
Israel has also warned that all options were on the table to ensure Iran was not able to develop a nuclear weapon.
Unlike Iran, which is not assessed by the IAEA or the U.S. to have yet pursued any nuclear weapons development despite present concerns over its nuclear activities, Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal of its own, though the nation does not officially confirm or deny its possession of such an arsenal.
Israel's suspected nuclear weapons have been a matter of discussion at previous IAEA sessions, though it has yet to receive any official censure despite past calls from Iran and a number of Arab states.
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