


Iranian officials threatened to ramp up their nuclear activities after the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog organization adopted a resolution declaring Tehran was not in compliance with its nonproliferation requirements.
The foreign ministry said it would launch a “new uranium enrichment facility in a secure location” and install advanced centrifuges at another enrichment center after the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors voted in favor of the resolution on Thursday.
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Nineteen countries voted in favor of the resolution, 11 abstained, and three countries — Russia, China, and Burkina Faso — voted against it, according to Reuters.
“The Board of Governors … finds that Iran’s many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the Agency,” the resolution said.
A primary issue between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Tehran relates to their finding years ago of traces of uranium detected at undeclared sites in Iran. An IAEA report from May 31 concluded that at least three of these locations were “part of an undeclared structured nuclear programme carried out by Iran until the early 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material.”
“The IAEA report is certainly troubling,” Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Staff, told lawmakers on Thursday. “The international community seems to be thinking about what they’re going to do about it, as are we watching the situation develop and carefully monitoring the report.”
This back-and-forth regarding Iran’s nuclear programs comes days ahead of the latest round of U.S.-Iranian negotiations over its nuclear program, which are set to take place in Oman this weekend. Iran’s threats on Thursday further raised the stakes of the talks.

The United States, ahead of the discussions, has evacuated diplomats from Iraq and military families from bases in the region.
Those decisions have raised eyebrows about what prompted them.
Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh warned on Wednesday that if negotiations fail and a conflict ensues, U.S. bases could be targeted.
While President Donald Trump has sought a diplomatic resolution to contain Iran’s nuclear program, he has expressed less optimism in recent days about the prospects of those efforts. He has also repeatedly indicated a willingness to use military force to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon, if the talks fail.
Trump has publicly and privately discouraged Israel from carrying out a military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, instead allowing the negotiations time for success.
MIDDLE EAST HEATS UP AS IRAN THREATENS US BASES
Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, confirmed to lawmakers on Tuesday that he has provided military options to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump for how the U.S. could stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
He was scheduled to appear before another congressional committee on Thursday, but it was postponed.