Western powers call on Iran to 'cooperate fully' with UN nuclear watchdog IAEA

The United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany jointly urged the Islamic Republic of Iran on Wednesday to “cooperate fully” with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The demand from the Western powers was stated in a jointly drafted resolution submitted to the UN nuclear watchdog agency, the news outlet AFP reported. 

“Iran has failed over the past five months to provide the IAEA with requested information regarding the status of its enriched uranium stockpiles and safeguarded nuclear facilities,” the resolution states.

The Western powers are seeking unrestricted inspections of the Iranian regime’s nuclear facilities. In their joint draft, the Western nations stress that it is “imperative” for Tehran to comply with its obligations as a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation agreement. Washington and its European allies consequently urged the Iranian regime to facilitate “access that the agency requests.”

Iran has for years obstructed UN nuclear inspections, which has led to tensions with the IAEA and the international community. The relations between Iran and the Western powers deteriorated further after Israel’s Operation Rising Lion military offensive against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile sites in June. At the end of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the U.S. joined the war by bombing Iran’s key nuclear site including its heavily fortified Fordo facility. Iran has not permitted UN inspectors to access its main nuclear facilities in Fodor and Natanz since the war in June. 

Last week, the IAEA warned that inspections of Iran’s enriched uranium assets are “long overdue” and stressed that it has not been able to carry out meaningful inspections since the June war ended. 

“The Agency’s lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran for five months means that its verification… is long overdue,” the UN nuclear watchdog warned.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi claimed on Sunday that Iran does not have any undeclared uranium enrichment sites. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran has a history of systematically lying and misleading the international community concerning its nuclear intentions.

The ayatollah regime, which openly calls for Israel’s destruction, denies that it seeks nuclear weapons and claims that its nuclear facilities are only meant for civilian purposes. Yet, Tehran insists on enriching uranium at 60% level, which has no civilian applications and is close to weapons-grade uranium. 

Last month, the IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi warned in an interview with AP that Iran’s current enriched uranium was sufficient for constructing up to 10 nuclear bombs should the ayatollah regime decide to weaponize its stockpile. 

“However, the nuclear material enriched at 60% is still in Iran,” Grossi told AP. “And this is one of the points we are discussing because we need to go back there and to confirm that the material is there and it’s not being diverted to any other use."

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned on Sunday that Tehran would consider reviewing its ties with the UN nuclear watchdog if it passes a resolution against Iran. 

“In case of a resolution, Iran will consider a review of its relations with the IAEA and will conduct a fundamental review,” Gharibabadi said. 

Meanwhile, Iran is simultaneously trying to rebuild its main terrorist proxy Hezbollah, which was severely degraded by the Israeli military after the terror militia launched an unprovoked attack on northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023. 

The U.S. undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, John Hurley, warned earlier this month that Iran had transferred some $1 billion in funds to Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the Western sanctions on Tehran. 

“The key to that is to drive out the Iranian influence and control that starts with all the money that they are pumping into Hezbollah,” Hurley assessed. “Even with everything Iran has been through, even with the economy not in great shape, they’re still pumping a lot of money to their terrorist proxies."