The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors has passed a resolution formally declaring Iran noncompliant with its nonproliferation obligations for the first time since 2005, a move Tehran immediately condemned.
The resolution, which was adopted on June 12 during a quarterly meeting of the IAEA board, can facilitate the return of UN sanctions against Iran later this year.
In response, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that a new enrichment site would be established in a safe zone and first-generation (IR-1) centrifuges in the Fordow site will be replaced with advanced sixth-generation (IR-6) machines.
"As we have previously stated, the Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution," the ministry said in a statement.
Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said later that the new facility had already been built and will become operational once equipped with centrifuges.
The 35-member IAEA board voted 19-3 with 11 abstentions to adopt the resolution, which had been put forward by the United States and its trio of European allies -- Britain, France, Germany, also known as the E3.
"Iran's many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran...constitutes noncompliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement," the resolution says, according to the AP.
The resolution also finds that the IAEA's "inability...to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful gives rise to questions that are within the competence of the UN Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security."
Tehran has not said whether the adoption of the resolution will result in the scrapping of the sixth round of nuclear talks with the United States on June 15 in Oman.
Iran has been working on a counteroffer after rejecting a US proposal for a deal that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described as "100 percent" against national interests.
On June 11, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that if the objective of any agreement is to guarantee Iran will not develop nuclear weapons, a deal is achievable.
However, he emphasized that Iran must retain the right to enrich uranium -- an element that US President Donald Trump has firmly opposed including in any agreement -- for its civilian nuclear program.
Tehran claims its nuclear efforts are solely for civilian and not military uses.
Meanwhile, Israel is reportedly preparing to strike Iran and is awaiting Trump’s green-light in case diplomacy fails. Iran has warned that it will strike US bases in the region if attacked.
Trump said the United States is still seeking to resolving the Iran nuclear issue through diplomacy.
"We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue!" Trump wrote on June 12 on his Truth Social platform.
"My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon," he added.
