Iran, Russia and China coordinated a blocking position at the IAEA Board ahead of the 12 June close of its session, their envoys having met Director General Rafael Grossi jointly in Geneva on 5 June1. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is the UN nuclear watchdog, and the Geneva meeting came three days before Washington tabled its censure resolution on 8 June.
The timing made the meeting preparatory rather than incidental. The US resolution demands Iranian transparency on nuclear sites and uranium stockpiles, the same access the agency has lacked since the Board declared a loss of continuity over Iran's 440.9 kg of highly enriched uranium after 97 days without inspectors. A coordinated stance from Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members, gives Tehran cover at the one body still nominally engaged on its nuclear file.
The Board session runs to 12 June, and the resolution had not gone to a vote by 9 June. Whether the US text rises to a formal censure, and whether a censure hardens Tehran's refusal to restore inspector access rather than softening it, is the test the closing days of the session will set.
