Avash News: In a series of posts on social platform X, Norman responded to a question about the likelihood of Iran’s nuclear dossier being referred to the UNSC. He wrote: “I know it is very unlikely. At the moment, it is not part of the plan. As I reported, it had been under consideration, but it no longer is. This week, a four-party resolution will be issued. This resolution will instruct Rafael Grossi—the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency—on transparency requirements for reporting and will criticize Iran for failing to cooperate with the agency.”
He continued: “However, it seems the general atmosphere is: let’s give diplomacy some space. The June confrontation is still fresh, and there is a desire not to escalate. Therefore, there will be no reference to the UNSC and no resolution declaring non-compliance. But this situation will not last indefinitely.”
Norman added that, at present, the three European members of the UNSC have two options—which could even be combined:
Referring Iran to the UNSC over non-compliance with safeguards investigations related to nuclear material, and
Issuing a declaration that Iran is not meeting its commitments and that the agency’s inspectors have faced restrictions since June.
He noted that both options could be expanded.
The American journalist said it is unlikely that either of these paths will be initiated this week. “I think that if there is no change in inspectors’ access and in Iran’s reporting to the IAEA, the situation could shift,” he said.
These claims about Iran’s lack of cooperation come despite the fact that Iran and the agency recently reached an agreement on inspections in Egypt. However, Western countries have—illegally, according to Iran—triggered the snapback mechanism. Iran has previously stated that if the mechanism is activated, the Cairo agreement will no longer be applicable.
