IAEA accuses Iran of ‘non-compliance’: Why, and what now?

The Board of Governors of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has passed a resolution accusing Iran of failing to comply with its nuclear nonproliferation commitments and referring the matter to the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The diplomatic move – backed by the United States and its key European allies – comes more than six months into the US-Israeli war against Iran, and as tensions flare in the Strait of Hormuz, where the US and Iran have traded attacks on vessels in recent days.

Here’s what’s to know about the resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its implications during the ongoing conflict:

The IAEA resolution expressed “grave concern” over Iran’s “continued noncompliance” with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which it is a signatory.

Under the NPT, Iran is forbidden from producing nuclear weapons and is required to meet IAEA safeguards to verify that any nuclear material it has is for peaceful purposes.

But the IAEA has not had access to key nuclear facilities in Iran since the US and Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June 2025, which included attacks on key Iranian nuclear sites, such as Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities.

In its latest resolution, the IAEA board said its “lack of information about previously declared nuclear material and access to facilities to verify it” is a “proliferation concern” that needs to be urgently addressed.

It called on Tehran “to engage seriously and without preconditions in talks aimed at building international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme”.