Iran has just been elected to the vice presidency of a UN body concerned with nuclear non-proliferation. Photo courtesy of Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51323142
The United Nations elected Iran as one of 34 vice presidents of the 11th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which opened April 27 at UN headquarters in New York. Iran was nominated by the Non-Aligned Movement, representing 121 largely developing nations.
The appointment drew immediate objections from the United States, Australia, the UAE, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Christopher Yeaw, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, called Iran’s selection an “affront” to the NPT, saying it was “indisputable that Iran has long demonstrated its contempt for the non-proliferation commitments of the NPT,” and declared it “beyond shameful and an embarrassment to the credibility of this conference.”
The UAE called the appointment “antithetical to the values of the NPT,” warning: “If a state party can disregard its obligations, undermine verification, destabilize its region, threaten international waterways, and still be elevated to a leadership position in this process, then we must ask what message this conference is sending.” Russia defended Iran and accused the objecting nations of “political attacks.”
The basis for the objections is extensive. Iran ratified the NPT in 1970 and concluded a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA in 1974. In 2002, the agency began investigating allegations of clandestine nuclear activities, finding that some had violated Tehran’s safeguards agreement.
The IAEA Board of Governors reported the matter to the UN Security Council in February 2006, after which the Council adopted six resolutions requiring Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, suspend uranium enrichment, suspend construction of a heavy-water reactor, and ratify the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement. Iran did not comply with most of those provisions. On September 24, 2005, the board had already adopted a resolution finding Iran in noncompliance with its safeguards agreement.
Beginning in July 2019, the IAEA verified that Iran’s nuclear activities were again exceeding JCPOA-mandated limits, with Iran’s installed centrifuges, enriched uranium stockpile, uranium U-235 concentration, and number of enrichment locations all surpassing what the agreement permitted. Tehran was also conducting JCPOA-prohibited research and development activities. On January 14, 2020, the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom formally stated that Iran was not meeting its JCPOA commitments and referred the matter to the agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism.
A December 2024 E3 letter to the UN Security Council reiterated their determination to use all diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including the snapback mechanism to reimpose sanctions.
On June 12, 2025, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted resolution GOV/2025/38, formally finding that Iran’s failure to cooperate with its investigation constitutes non-compliance with its safeguards agreement, the first such finding since 2005, put forward by France, the UK, Germany, and the United States.
The IAEA Director General confirmed that man-made uranium particles were found at three undeclared locations, Varamin, Marivan, and Turquzabad, during inspections in 2019 and 2020, and that Iran had never provided credible explanations for nuclear material at sites it never disclosed. Iran responded to the breach finding by announcing a new enrichment facility at an undisclosed location and the replacement of first-generation centrifuges at Fordow with sixth-generation centrifuges.
Prior to the June 2025 Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, the IAEA calculated that Iran held 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a level that has no credible civilian justification and that Iran alone, among non-nuclear-weapon states, has produced. The Institute for Science and International Security assessed that Iran could convert that stockpile into enough weapons-grade uranium for nine nuclear weapons in approximately three weeks at the Fordow facility, with enough material for a first weapon producible in as little as two to three days.
Following the strikes, Tehran adopted a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA, and inspectors withdrew from Iran in early July 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed on August 4 that there were no IAEA inspectors in the country. As of early 2026, DNI Tulsi Gabbard testified that Iran had not resumed enriching uranium, but IAEA chief Rafael Grossi confirmed the enriched uranium stockpile remains inside the country, with over 200 kg of 60% material believed to be intact at the Isfahan tunnel complex.
Concurrent with the NPT conference, more than 80 countries issued a joint statement led by Bahrain condemning Iran’s regional actions and disruptions to international shipping, supporting UN Security Council Resolution 2817, and warning that Iran’s actions have increased costs, disrupted supply chains, and negatively affected global energy markets, with particularly severe consequences for countries facing food insecurity.
Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, rejected the U.S. objections as “baseless and politically motivated,” framing the appointment as recognition of Iran’s stated commitment to a world without nuclear weapons. Iranian officials framed the appointment as consistent with Iran’s advocacy for nuclear disarmament. The conference chair, Vietnam’s UN ambassador Do Hung Viet, noted Iran was selected by “the group of non-aligned and other states.”
Separately, Iran International reported, citing a European intelligence source, that an alleged IRGC-linked espionage and assassination network operating across multiple countries was overseen by an officer identified as Alireza Mohammadi, who allegedly coordinated surveillance and operations targeting Israeli and Western interests. One operative, a cleric trained at Al-Mustafa International University in Qom, an institution sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2020, was reportedly involved in a dismantled cell that had planned attacks on an oil pipeline and a synagogue.
Israeli officials described the disruption as part of an expanding campaign against IRGC intelligence units, including individuals associated with Unit 4000, a covert branch of Iran’s intelligence apparatus.
Regarding the current U.S.-Iran conflict, Iranian officials have demanded that restrictions on its nuclear program be omitted from any peace talks or agreements.
The NPT vice presidency is not an isolated case. In February 2026, Iran was elected vice-chair of the UN Commission for Social Development, a body focused on democracy, gender equality, and non-violence, and vice-chair of the UN Charter Committee. In April 2026, ECOSOC nominated Iran to the UN Committee for Programme and Coordination, which shapes policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention, with Western democracies including the UK, France, Germany, Canada, and Australia voting in favor. Iran had been removed from the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2022 following its violent crackdown on protesters after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
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