🔻What does sending Iran’s case to the UN Security Council mean?

On Wednesday, September 9, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, for the first time in 20 years, concluded that Iran had not complied with its safeguards obligations and, as a result, reported the matter to the UN Security Council; an action that once again officially moves Iran’s nuclear file from Vienna to New York. But what does this decision mean, and what consequences will it have for Iran in practice?

Although China, Russia, and Niger voted against the draft resolution proposed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, 23 votes in favor led to the adoption of the resolution at the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, despite eight countries having abstained. Unlike the UN Security Council, in the Board of Governors no country has the right to veto, and therefore the negative votes from Beijing and Moscow cannot prevent the submission of Iran’s case to the Security Council.