Iran's mission to international organizations in Vienna on Thursday denounced the decision by the UN nuclear watchdog's Board of Governors to refer its nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, labeling the resolution a "political tool" after it was passed a day earlier over alleged nuclear "non-compliance."
In an interview with China Global Television (CGTN), Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, said the agency should fulfill its technical duties and should not become a tool for any country to advance its own political agenda.
Najafi also responded to a question on whether Iran would take retaliatory measures.
"We should see what would be the actual effects of such a resolution. In our view, there wouldn't be any actual effect. What will we assess? We will assess and based on our assessment we will react to that," he said.
The Board of Governors resolution, submitted by Britain, France, Germany, and the United States and reportedly passed by 23 votes in favor, three against, and eight abstentions, "requests the (IAEA) Director General (Rafael Grossi) to report" Iran to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly.
This would be the first time in 20 years that the IAEA has reported Iran to the UN Security Council. The resolution says Iran has prevented IAEA inspectors from returning to nuclear sites that were bombed by U.S. and Israeli strikes, leaving the agency unable to verify what happened to Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile.
According to Najafi, however, that framing unfairly shifts the blame onto Iran for a crisis created by external aggression.
"The threat against Iran and attack on the nuclear facilities still continues. So, what has happened there? Indeed, the access to all facilities existed there before the attack, and it was the attack and the aggression against Iran which caused the current situation. So, Iran should not be blamed for that," said the ambassador.
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said Thursday that the IAEA's "political moves" will push countries to exit the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA in late June 2025 under a parliamentary law, citing the agency's failure to condemn the Israeli and U.S. attacks earlier that month on Iran's nuclear sites and related safety concerns.
Iran's IAEA ambassador denounces agency's impending referral to UNSC as "political tool"
