Despite his efforts, Grossi only returned to Vienna with considerations of potential steps by Iran. This renewed lack of concrete progress prompted the E3 to officially table a resolution that had already been informally submitted. The resolution, which, among other things, tasks the DG with drawing up a ‘Comprehensive Assessment’, was adopted by 19 votes in favour to 35 (12 abstentions, 3 votes against). Iran subsequently announced countermeasures of its own, including the installation of additional modern centrifuge cascades.

Another traditional focus of the November meeting of the Board of Governors is the report of the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee, which meets immediately beforehand and discusses various reports on technical cooperation.

In addition, this meeting was again strongly influenced by current geopolitical issues, such as the wars in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza. In addition, the already known agenda items on the JCPOA, the AUKUS agreement and the Brazilian nuclear propulsion programme were discussed.

Separate reports have already been circulated via CH@world on the topics of Ukraine and non-proliferation/Iran. 

An important part of the agenda of the March meeting is the discussion of the report on nuclear safety, the report on nuclear security and the report on nuclear technologies. As the second anniversary of the occupation of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was coming up at the same time, the safety, security and safeguards situation in Ukraine received a great deal of attention, as expected. As a new member of the Board of Governors, Ukraine itself tabled a resolution on the topic, which was ultimately adopted by vote; this was the fourth resolution on Ukraine in the Board of Governors. Ukraine also showed a strong presence by the participation of Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko as head of the delegation.

In addition, the already familiar non-proliferation topics of Iran, DPRK and AUKUS were at the centre of the discussions. Once again, there was a lengthy debate on the conflict in the Middle East, albeit less emotionally charged than at the meeting in November.