To judge how governments are viewing the Iran conundrum, here are excerpts from 13 national statements (available in English on IAEA website) at the IAEA General Conference, September 15-19, on Iran. The majority of states did not mention Iran, including Brazil, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey. Mentions of ‘diplomacy’ are highlighted.
Australia
We remain deeply concerned by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s failure to resolve outstanding safeguards issues in a full and technically credible manner. It has produced and accumulated a growing stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% - for which there is no credible civilian justification. The Agency’s current lack of access to verify the location of this material is alarming. It is essential that Iran promptly resume implementation of, and full compliance with, its legally binding safeguards obligations.
Australia notes the Director General’s 9 September announcement with Iran on practical steps to resume full verification in accordance with Iran’s CSA, and looks forward to immediate implementation. We thank Egypt for facilitating this development. We continue to call on Iran to engage urgently and in good faith to reach an acceptable diplomatic solution to concerns about its nuclear program – one which provides assurance that Iran can never develop a nuclear weapon.
Canada
Iran’s nuclear program is a matter of grave concern, including its significant stockpile of highly-enriched uranium with no credible civilian purpose and its noncompliance with legal safeguards obligations. We welcome the IAEA Director General’s efforts to negotiate a resumption of IAEA verification and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program and call on Iran to urgently take concrete steps to implement the necessary technical modalities to allow this resumption. Canada has contributed $23 million to Agency’s verification activities in Iran since 2014.
Finland
Finland continues to be very concerned on Iran’s nuclear program which the IAEA has not been able to declare exclusively peaceful. Finland regrets Iran’s lack of cooperation with the Agency. The reliability of the world-wide NPT safeguards system is as strong as its weakest link. The non-compliance of one country undermines the credibility of the entire system. Finland calls upon Iran to fulfill its legal obligations under its Safeguards Agreement, and allow the Agency inspectors to enter the country and provide them with the required information.
Finland welcomes the announcement by the DG that an agreement has been reached between the Agency and Iran on practical modalities and look forward to its implementation. The only sustainable outcome is a negotiated nuclear deal. We encourage Iran to engage fully in finding a diplomatic solution. Any further military escalation is in no one’s interest and must be avoided.
Germany
Iran’s continued escalation of proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities over recent years and its failure to comply with its nuclear safeguard obligations present a huge challenge to international peace and security. Much of Iran’s nuclear programme and in particular its production of highly enriched uranium is unprecedented for a country without a nuclear weapons programme – it lacks any plausible civilian purpose.
Against this backdrop, and given the approaching expiry of UNSC Resolution 2231, the E3 notified the UN Security Council of Iran’s significant non-performance under the JCPoA and initiated the snapback mechanism two weeks ago. We had to take this step given Iran’s yearlong non-compliance with key JCPoA commitments, while the E3 had always honoured their own commitments and made every effort to revive the deal. The E3 have always remained clear that the door to diplomacy remains open provided that Iran takes concrete, and verifiable steps to address the international community‘s huge concerns.
This also applies to Iran‘s legal obligations: We are very worried that Iran so far has not resumed full co-operation with the IAEA and that no clear pathway to resume full co-operation between Iran and the IAEA has been established. We call on Iran to fully abide with its legal obligations under its Safeguards Agreement and to resume full cooperation with the IAEA.
Italy
Italy is closely following developments regarding Iran’s nuclear programme with utmost attention. We are concerned about the Agency’s loss of continuity of knowledge on the current inventory and location of Iran’s uranium stockpile, and its inability to access safeguarded facilities, except for the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, since 13th June.
Only a diplomatic solution can guarantee long-lasting stability in the region, and beyond. We believe there is still room to relaunch constructive negotiations and we remain convinced of the importance of dialogue between the Parties to reach an agreement.
In recent months, Italy hosted two rounds of negotiation in Rome between the USA and Iran, under the Omani mediation, and we stand ready to host further meetings, if needed, to resume this crucial effort.
We commend the Agency’s tireless efforts in Iran and DG Grossi’s personal commitment to engage with Iranian authorities. We welcome the recent agreement between the Agency and Iran in Cairo, which marks a first step in the right direction. It is now crucial to ensure its immediate implementation, and we urge Iran to enable the full resumption of the IAEA’s mandatory verification activities without delay.
Ireland
Ireland remains concerned by Iran’s nuclear activities. Iran must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. Ireland thanks the Director General for the efforts last week, and is encouraged by his statement that the agreement reached in Cairo is a step in the right direction. That must now lead to the full resumption of inspections and cooperation with the Agency.
This is a requirement under the legally-binding Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, and necessary so that the Agency can provide assurances on Iran’s nuclear programme. We are now at a critical juncture on this issue. The recent progress is encouraging, necessary, but not sufficient. Urgently resolving the outstanding issues to provide a lasting solution can only be achieved through diplomacy and dialogue.
Japan
Japan emphasizes the importance of verifying the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program. In this regard, the engagement of the IAEA is essential. As we are at a critical juncture, Japan calls on Iran to urgently resume full cooperation with the IAEA. Japan will continue to make diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear program through dialogue.
Republic of Korea
Korea commends the Agency’s tireless efforts to resolve the outstanding nuclear issues with Iran. In this regard, we note the recent agreement between the IAEA and Iran, and look forward to continuing this momentum for cooperation.
New Zealand
Iran’s nuclear activities have long been a concern for New Zealand and many others. These concerns led to the adoption of a resolution at the Board of Governors in June, finding Iran in non-compliance with its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. That was — and remains — a serious finding. Iran is not meeting its obligations, and it must do so. That resolution also underscored the need for a diplomatic solution to this issue. Dialogue and diplomacy are still the only path to achieving a sustainable and enduring solution.
Russian Federation
We are confident that the issue of the Iranian nuclear programme can only be resolved diplomatically. We welcome the agreements signed on September 9th between Tehran and the Agency on resuming the implementation of the IAEA safeguards in Iran. This is a great example of how even the most complex tasks can be resolved through dialogue. We are ready to assist in searching for negotiated solutions which will be based on the international law and Article IV of the NPT.
Sweden
The IAEA’s role in verifying and monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme, and transparently reporting its findings, remains essential. Sweden will continue to provide extrabudgetary contributions to support that work.
Iran has limited the Agency’s verification authority since 2021 to the bare minimum under its NPT safeguards agreement. Sweden reiterates its call on Iran to resume its provisional application of the Additional Protocol, proceed with its ratification, and fully implement its legally binding Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.
The only way to put us on a path towards the restoration of confidence in the nuclear programme is for Iran to engage in in a meaningful way and to address international concerns regarding its nuclear activities.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE is deeply concerned by the challenges currently facing the verification mandate of the Agency. We urge Iran to fully implement its CSA and bring into force its additional protocol, and to provide the Agency with timely and comprehensive cooperation to restore international confidence in its programme.
United Kingdom
Unfortunately, Iran’s non-compliance with its safeguards obligations, and lack of serious cooperation with the Agency, is a grave concern and challenge for the non-proliferation architecture that keeps us all safe. The Agency has near zero oversight of Iran’s nuclear programme, which is such a concern because of its dangerous nuclear escalation, particularly the production of High Enriched Uranium, which has no credible civilian justification. Iran now has more than 10 significant quantities of HEU – the approximate amount, as defined by the IAEA, of material from which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded. Due to Iran’s significant non-performance of its JCPoA commitments, the UK, France and Germany triggered the snapback mechanism on 28 August. This does not close the door on diplomacy, and we remain open to further dialogue, should Iran take concrete steps to address our concerns.
When these states call for diplomacy with Iran, recently the main player has been the Trump administration. That administration seems more interested in punishing Iran than in reaching a diplomatic solution, having assassinated a revered military-political person and in June bombed Iran with the world’s largest conventional weapons. Would there be more chance of success if a group of states, perhaps some or all these 13, assumed the diplomatic negotiation role with Iran? They could do that in the framework of the NPT, perhaps with the blessing of the NPT Review Conference 2026 Chair. That would be the proper starting point, because the issues with Iran principally regard it fully meeting the obligations it assumed in joining NPT and under its NPT safeguards agreement with IAEA.
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