by SHIVAN MAHENDRARAJAH
With Israel pushing the US toward a new war against Iran, the IAEA’s anti-Iran resolution has already backfired, undermining Tehran’s new negotiations-friendly administration, and handing a proverbial gift to the nation’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
On 21 November, Britain, France, and Germany (the ‘E3’) pushed an anti-Iran resolution before the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) Board of Governors. It passed, effectively handing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a political presence as they fend off ‘Reformist’ attempts to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
The censure measure
The measure, under authority granted to the IAEA through the ‘NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran,’ was introduced by the E3, backed by the US – and indirectly by Israel, an undeclared nuclear state that remains outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The resolution demanded Iran provide “technically credible explanations for the presence of uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at several undeclared locations in Iran.” Tehran’s responses, detailed in IAEA’s 19 November report, are just as unverifiable as comparing the presence of uranium particles to Loch Ness monster sightings.
Nineteen members of IAEA’s Board of Governors voted in favor of the E3 measure, while 12 states abstained. Three countries – Russia, China, and Burkina Faso – voted “no.” Venezuela was unable to vote.
A week before the resolution passed, IAEA chief Dr Rafael Grossi met with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEO).
Grossi visited two nuclear sites and called Iran’s offer to cap its 60 percent (90 percent is commonly considered weapons-grade) Highly-Enriched Uranium (HEU) stockpile a “concrete step in the right direction,” noting that AEO’s commitment to cap stockpiles could falter “as a result of further developments” – that is, the E3 censure resolution could lead to the Islamic Republic withdrawing its offer.
The Rules-Based International Order®
The E3 and US had no real interest in addressing concerns over Iran’s nuclear program through good faith diplomacy. Instead, the IAEA was used as a political weapon against Iran, a common tactic employed by western-dominated international bodies.
When the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, NATO member states called for his arrest. However, when the ICC slapped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the same, US President Joe Biden denounced it as “outrageous,” having said Putin’s arrest warrant was “justified.” France, an ICC member, argued that “Netanyahu is covered by immunity” as a sitting head of government, “because Israel is not a member of the ICC.”
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