Iran Condemns IAEA Resolution, Says Cairo Deal Is Void

The IAEA said verification of Iran’s uranium enrichment is long overdue after months without inspector access.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during the 59th session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva on June 20, 2025. Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Nov. 21 condemned an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors resolution that presses Tehran to meet its nuclear safeguards obligations, calling it “illegal and unjustified.”

The resolution, adopted on Nov. 20, said that Iran is noncompliant with the longstanding Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Safeguards Agreement that requires it to let IAEA inspectors verify that its nuclear material is not being used to build weapons.

The document, backed by Washington and key European powers, said the IAEA has been unable to verify Iran’s highly enriched uranium for more than five months. It demanded that Tehran provide full information, access, and cooperation to resolve longstanding safeguards issues.

In response, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful, condemning the resolution, which it said was adopted under pressure from the United States, Germany, France, and the UK.

In a separate statement on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the IAEA resolution had “killed” the Cairo Agreement, a September deal between Tehran and the agency to resume inspections of certain facilities.

The deal restored Iran–IAEA cooperation, following its collapse after a 12-day conflict in June between Iran and Israel. During the fighting, Israeli and U.S. strikes targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel.

The United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran on Sept. 27 through the snapback mechanism under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 nuclear agreement that capped Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018.

The snapback was triggered by the UK, France, and Germany, known as the E3, after they said Iran violated the 2015 agreement by exceeding limits on enriched uranium.

Commenting on the developments, Araghchi said this “sordid sequence of events” showed that the United States and the E3 were actively pursuing escalation.

He said that “Iran is not the party that seeks to manufacture another crisis,” and that the “official termination of the Cairo Agreement is the direct outcome of their provocations.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also said that it will “spare no effort to safeguard the rights and interests of the Iranian nation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy.”

Resolution Orders Expanded Reporting and Access

The IAEA Board of Governors resolution requires the agency’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, to report quarterly to the board and the U.N. Security Council with details on the verification of Iran’s uranium stockpile, including the locations, quantities, chemical forms, and enrichment levels, and the inventories of centrifuges and related equipment.

Establishing the current status of Iran’s inventories of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) and High Enriched Uranium (HEU) must be addressed urgently, Grossi said in his introductory statement to the Board of Governors on Nov. 19.

“The Agency’s 5-month-long lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran means the material’s verification—according to standard safeguards practice—is long overdue,” he added.

The resolution also reaffirmed Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy if it complies with its obligations, and called on Tehran to return to diplomacy.

Ahead of the vote, Corinne Kitsell, the UK’s ambassador to the IAEA, delivered a statement on behalf of France, Germany, the UK, and the United States, saying the document doesn’t create new obligations for Iran.

“It restores certainty and provides a clear mandate for Agency reporting, returning to the same reporting the Agency carried out before the JCPOA, under a single agenda item,” she said.

“This clarity is essential for the Agency to be able to fulfil its mandate.”

Kitsell urged Iran to resolve its safeguards issues without delay and cooperate with the IAEA.