The IAEA BoG on Thursday, November 20, 2025, passed a resolution proposed by the three European countries (France, Britain, and Germany) backed by the United States, against Iran’s nuclear program with 19 votes in favor, 12 abstentions, and 3 votes against.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in the early hours of Friday concerning the IAEA BoG’ resolution on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic considers the resolution adopted by the IAEA BoG, which was passed through the exertion of pressure by the US, Germany, France, and Britain on the member states of this entity, as illegal and unjustifiable, the statement read.
The move by the three European countries and the US in designing and imposing this resolution on the IAEA BoG is another clear sign of their irresponsible approach and their insistence on instrumentally using the Agency to exert pressure on the Islamic Republic, it added.
This resolution, which was adopted by exploiting the numerical superiority of the Western bloc and its supporters in the BoG and without the support of nearly half of the Board’s member states—including the opposition of two permanent members of the UN Security Council—violates the fundamental bases of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which guarantees respect for the inalienable right of member states to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It also reiterates the illegal demands contained in the obsolete United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions calling for the suspension of enrichment, it said.
Legally, the Board of Governors lacks any competence to revive the terminated resolutions of the UNSC. The attempt by the three European countries and the US to imply the existence of such competence in the Board is a clear sign of their bad faith and irresponsible behavior towards the Agency’s procedures and regulations, said the statement.
The insistence of the three European countries and the US on repeating this illegal action, which they previously pursued by misusing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA) through the UNSC, will lead to legal chaos and further division within international institutions, and will discredit the foundations of the non-proliferation regime and its related multilateral institutions, it added.
The content of the adopted Agency resolution reflects the bullying of the US and the hypocritical behavior of the three European countries. While even according to the IAEA Director General’s report GOV/2025/65, the current situation regarding the halt of the Agency’s verification activities in some Iranian nuclear centers is a direct result of military attacks by the U.S. and the Zionist regime, the drafters of the resolution have consciously avoided the slightest reference to this fact, it noted.
Fundamentally, the United States, as the party that has been responsible for creating crises over Iran’s nuclear issue over the past 10 years—including its unilateral and illegal withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018 and its commission of the crime of military aggression against Iran and attacks on Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities—is the main culprit for the current situation, the statement said.
Germany, France, and Britain, due to their continuous violations of JCPOA commitments, particularly since May 2018, their subsequent complicity with the US and the Zionist regime in the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025, and for initiating the so-called snapback mechanism, must themselves be accountable for the very detrimental consequences of their actions. In such circumstances, the action of these four actors in making demands from Iran in the Board of Governors is nothing but a malicious distortion of the facts, it added.
By ignoring Iran’s responsible and good-faith performance, the three European countries and the US have disrupted the positive path created between Iran and the Agency, forcing Iran to announce the termination of the September 9 Understanding, said the statement.
According to the statement, Iran, in its interactions with the Agency, had signed an agreement with the Agency on September 9 and, based on that, had resumed the process of cooperation with the Agency by facilitating inspections of some nuclear facilities.
The Islamic Republic, while reiterating its principled stance of rejecting nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD), draws the attention of the IAEA BoG and the Director General himself to the greatest existing threat to global peace and security, namely the genocidal Zionist regime, the statement said, adding that it reminds them that this regime is the sole possessor of WMDs and the only obstacle to the realization of a WMD-free Middle East.
The insistence of the US and the three European countries on ignoring this grave danger and instead making pretexts about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program has turned these four countries into accomplices of the genocidal Israeli regime in the occupied Palestine, Lebanon, and other countries of the region, it noted.
It is a self-evident logical and legal principle that, the statement said, membership in any treaty, including the NPT, and the acceptance of its obligations, necessitate the enjoyment of the rights and benefits envisaged within it.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while appreciating the countries that did not support this resolution by casting negative votes or abstentions, and expressing regret over the irresponsible and bullying behavior of the sponsors of the resolution, emphasizes that it will spare no effort in safeguarding the rights and interests of the Iranian nation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy, it further noted.
