TEHRAN – The growing possibility that Iran may be forced to take drastic measures regarding its nuclear program has yet to frustrate the West’s ambitions to unnerve the country. On Thursday, the IAEA’s Board of Governors passed a resolution—drafted by the E3 (Germany, France, and the UK) and the U.S.—demanding that Iran step up cooperation with the UN nuclear agency. 

The resolution made no mention of the June U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, nor did it offer assurances that granting UN inspectors access would not be a prelude to another attack. It was narrowly adopted by a vote of 19–3, with 12 abstentions, and urges Tehran to report “without delay” on its enriched uranium stockpile and on damaged facilities.

On June 13, the U.S. and Israel began a 12-day bombing campaign against Iran that targeted its nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordow and Esfahan, and damaged residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure across the country. More than 1,100 Iranians were killed during the war, which began only days before Tehran was set to participate in a sixth round of nuclear talks with Washington. 

President Donald Trump routinely brags about the military campaign — which was illegal under the UN Charter — and says the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites. It is unclear why he seeks information about infrastructure he claims was completely destroyed; analysts argue there is no way to determine the full extent of the damage without close inspections.

Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA in June after the agency refused to condemn the U.S.-Israeli aggression. A new framework agreement was later signed in Cairo, but this was quickly undermined by the West, which decided to trigger a process designed to reimpose pre-JCPOA UN sanctions against Iran. The JCPOA itself, signed in 2015 to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the termination of sanctions, was thrown into disarray by Washington in 2018, when the Trump administration withdrew from the pact and reinstated sanctions against Iran.

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Iranians have strongly condemned the recent resolution. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry described it as an "illegal and unjustified" measure. “This reflects U.S. bullying and the duplicitous behavior of the three European states,” it added.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that although the Cairo understanding had “effectively lost its basis” after the E3 triggered the return of canceled UN Security Council resolutions, Tehran has now formally notified the IAEA’s Director General that the arrangement “is no longer valid and is considered terminated.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei also appeared on national television to announce that Iran would implement “appropriate countermeasures.”

Iran’s most powerful allies, China and Russia, also criticized the move. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced at a press conference in Moscow that the West must put aside threats and pressure and instead return to diplomacy with Iran. Li Song, China’s permanent representative to the IAEA, told the Board of Governors on Thursday that Americans and Europeans had “seriously undermined the good momentum of cooperation” between Tehran and the Agency.

What could come next

Iranian authorities have not yet specified the countermeasures they say the country will take. However, the recent resolution is likely to have two main consequences: increased mistrust of both the West and the IAEA, and a reduced likelihood of a diplomatic solution, at least in the near future.

Mistrust of the West has deep roots in Iran, dating back to the U.S.- and British-orchestrated 1953 coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. The June war, which occurred while Iran was engaged in a diplomatic process, combined with the West's subsequent actions (the trigger of snapback sanctions and Thursday’s resolution), has perhaps made Iranians more skeptical than ever about whether genuine cooperation with Western states will bear fruit.

Lawmakers are now strongly urging the Pezeshkian administration to move beyond diplomatic engagement with the West and instead revisit the country’s nuclear doctrine. Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, wrote on X on Friday that “the best response to the oppressive IAEA resolution is withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).”

As for the IAEA, views have historically been divided. Some, such as the reformist Rouhani administration, argued that Tehran should maximize cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog to deny the West pretexts for pressure. The subsequent conservative Raisi administration was more wary of engaging with the agency, but nonetheless kept Iran the most intensively inspected country in the world. The current Pezeshkian administration, made up mainly of reformists with some conservatives, is now largely united in its dubiety toward the IAEA, especially its Director General, Rafael Grossi. 

In April, the Tehran Times reported that Grossi was hoping to become the next UN Secretary General, and that the West had offered to support his bid if he cooperated with them in pressuring Iran. In October, Grossi publicly announced he would be a candidate for UN Secretary General in 2026.

It was never a secret that Grossi had been providing the West with anti-Iran IAEA reports used to harass Tehran. The June strikes occurred just one day after he published a report that recycled old accusations of opacity and suspicious activity.

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said last week that Israel obtained the intelligence used to strike some of Iran’s nuclear facilities — locations he said were known only to Iranian authorities and the IAEA — from the agency itself. One target was a nuclear research center that carried out essential work producing medical isotopes. “The very laboratory that was bombed had been co?equipped with IAEA support, turning trust into a vulnerability,” Eslami said. “We are the only nation whose data is leaked, exploited, and turned into a justification for aggression.”

This latest resolution has further drawn anger toward the IAEA and Grossi. One Iranian lawmaker said the agency is “nothing but a tool at the hands of the West.” His post on X received over 200,000 likes from the relatively small community of Iranian users on X.