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The confidential reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say Tehran has made preparations to cap the stockpile at around 185 kg (407 lbs). Iran also agreed to consider accepting the appointment of four additional experienced IAEA inspectors.

However, diplomats told Reuters that Western powers are pushing for the censure resolution at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting despite Iran's reported offer. The Wall Street Journal also quoted sources as saying that France, Britain and Germany (known as the E3) will move forward with the resolution in the Wednesday meeting.

Previous voting patterns suggest that proposals backed by the key Western countries easily pass. A successful resolution could be a catalyst for France, Britain and Germany to trigger a so-called "snapback mechanism" to restore UN sanctions imposed on Iran before a 2015 multilateral nuclear deal.

US to support efforts to hold Iran accountable

The United States is going to remain tightly coordinated with its European partners in advance of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting and strongly supports efforts to hold Iran accountable, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told Iran International, urging Tehran to cooperate with the IAEA.

The decision comes despite Iran's pledge to retaliate if such a resolution is adopted.

"If the IAEA Board of Governors passes a censure resolution against Iran, the Islamic Republic will undoubtedly take reciprocal action and implement new measures in its nuclear program, which they will certainly not like," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the state TV on Saturday.

Unconfirmed media reports in Tehran say Iranian authorities have threatened to "activate a significant number of advanced centrifuges and may inject gas into these centrifuges" if the resolution is passed.

This is not the first time Iran has sought to dissuade the IAEA Board of Governors from adopting censure resolutions. In March 2023, Iran told the IAEA it was committed to resolving issues around sites where inspectors have concerns about possible undeclared nuclear activity and to allow the IAEA to “implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.”

However, Tehran did not cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog and even withdrew the accreditation of several inspectors assigned to conduct verification activities in Iran under the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement in September 2023.

France, Britain, and Germany repeatedly attempted to rally support for a censure resolution at the Board of Governors, according to the Wall Street Journal, but their efforts were blocked by the Biden administration. In June 2024, the UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-member board of governors censured Iran for failing to cooperate with the agency.

Sharp rise in Iran's stockpile of nuclear fuel

The IAEA reports to member states cited by Reuters show that Tehran's stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% had grown by 17.6 kg since the previous report to 182.3 kg as of Oct. 26, which is enough for four nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.

While Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, the Islamic Republic's authorities have in multiple instances suggested that the country may change its nuclear doctrine if deemed necessary.

The IAEA Board of Governors' meeting on Wednesday will be the last quarterly Board meeting before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

Trump who withdrew the US from a nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, has vowed to restore his so-called maximum pressure against Iran and stop the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

"The defeat of the United States in the contemporary era in the West Asia region was its first major strategic defeat. This defeat was the greatest defeat the United States has faced since its founding," General Gholamreza Soleimani told Tehran media on Tuesday.

Soleimani also said Israel is economically crippled amid the war in Gaza against Iran-backed Hamas, while Iran's largest militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah, continues daily exchanges with Israel. Attacks have also been launched from Iran's militias in Yemen, Syria and Iraq since Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel last year.

“The Zionist regime has been defeated militarily,” Soleimani said, adding that it is a continuation of the revolution of 1979, which saw the Islamic Republic form and overthrow the monarchy.

Soleimani's remarks come amid widespread blackouts in Iran due to fuel shortages and the severe devaluation of its currency, now worth just 1/10,000th of its value before the Islamic Republic's establishment in 1979. Meanwhile, Iran's regional proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, have been weakened by recent Israeli attacks.

“The great Iranian nation, during the Islamic Revolution under wise leadership, confronted the deviant Pahlavi regime, stood against the United States, and defeated it,” Soleimani said.

As the propaganda war continues, he called for a global campaign to convince public opinion that Israel’s downfall is imminent.

“The world’s public opinion must be convinced that this regime has collapsed. We must continuously create and disseminate content in the digital space, spreading the message that the Zionist regime has been defeated,” he added.

Soleimani’s remarks come amid ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel in the region. Iran frequently cites the Islamic Revolution of 1979 as a moment of resistance to foreign domination, framing its policies as part of a broader struggle against US military presence in the region and its global influence.

Soleimani highlighted the role of the United States in what he described as the survival of Israel, which he called the “filthy body of the Zionist regime.”

His comments align with Iran’s broader strategy of leveraging anti-Israeli and anti-Western sentiments to strengthen its regional alliances and bolster its narrative of resistance.

While Soleimani painted a picture of an Israel on the verge of collapse this week, in both of Iran's recent aerial bombardments of Israel, Israeli forces, along with international allies, intercepted most of the projectiles launched, challenging claims of a dismantled air defense network.

Meanwhile, in Israel's recent retaliatory attack to the October bombardment, masses of Iranian air defenses were destroyed.

It comes as Israel continues air strikes deep into central Beirut and Hezbollah, Iran’s largest proxy, fires dozens of projectiles daily into Israel.

Speaking at a press conference in Beirut following talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hochstein said that the deal is now within reach."It is now within our grasp. As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision."

He made the remarks just one day day after the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, designated a terror group by the US and multiple other nations, agreed to a US ceasefire proposal, dependent upon revisions.

Hochstein added, ”I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end... This is a moment of decision-making. I am here in Beirut to facilitate that decision but it's ultimately the decision of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict."

A senior Lebanese politician who stands against Hezbollah, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Iran International the situation looks likely to take time. "I feel that as the discussion goes further than the headline principles they start revealing different interpretations by the various parties which creates complications," he said.

It is also happening outside of the constitutional process which makes it complex from the side of the Lebanese government.

"This is practically a negotiation between Hezbollah and Israel with the Lebanese Speaker of Parliament being a mediator with Hochstein representing one of the parties and not the Lebanese state, which is practically not part of this discussion given that the discussion is taking place outside the constitutional process," he said.

"The fact is, the state was not involved in the war decision and did not engage in such a war. However, the state will have to guarantee the peace."

The deal could be a parting gift from the Biden administration before President-elect Donald Trump comes to office for his second term in January, allowing further peace treaties to be brokered by the next administration.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former Israeli diplomat told Iran International, “This will be Trump’s way to get straight down to business. He will want to shore up peace with Saudi and Israel as he needs peace in order to start making money.”

In 2020, Trump brokered historic peace deals between Israel and Arab states including the United Arab Emirates in the Abraham Accords. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be eager to please Trump, the source said, as he too wants to add peace with Saudi, broadening the Abraham Accords, to his legacy.

Israel’s longest serving premier ordered a mission which saw around 1,500 Hezbollah operatives taken out of action in September when two days of pager and walkie-talkie explosions hit the group in the most debilitating operation since its founding.

Just days later, Israel assassinated the head of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, part of a stream of killings targeting Hezbollah’s top chain of command.

Another source in the Israeli government told Iran International that depending on the next stages of the process, Hochstein may make his next stop Israel.

Israel has been fighting against Iran-backed Hamas, designated a terror group by the US, the UK and EU, since the attacks of October 7 last year in which over 1,100 mostly civilians were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage.

On October 8, Hezbollah joined the war on Israel’s northern front and has since fired over 17,000 projectiles into the Jewish state as it battles Iran’s militias from multiple fronts. Iranian militias in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the West Bank have also joined the campaign against Israel.

As scores of projectiles continued to be fired into Israel amid Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah media, Al Mayadeen, quoted political commentator Radwan Aqil as saying, ”We are facing a diplomatic and political juncture led by Speaker Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati."

He said the Lebanese side “will not accept any concession that affects Lebanon's sovereignty," stressing that "there is a national consensus, even from the opposition, to refuse to allow the Israelis to violate Lebanese sovereignty."

Israel continues to push for a clause which secures the right to self-defence as the negotiations continue with 63,000 Israelis displaced amid the conflict which has since seen hundreds of thousands of Lebanese forced into shelters.

On Tuesday, while negotiations continued, Al Mayadeen journalist Ali Mortada warned on X: “I told you, Haifa is the future of Tel Aviv,” suggesting the barrage hitting Israel’s northern city will soon be reaching Tel Aviv in central Israel. “If you want to ceasefire we will, if you don’t, we won’t,” he said.

Ahmad Ajam, a member of the Iranian parliament who secured his seat with a modest share of votes in his constituency, is among those eager for dialogue. He has even proposed including a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon as a topic for talks, disregarding the risks faced by higher-ranking politicians who have suggested negotiations with US officials without the prior approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi faced serious backlash after rumors emerged that Iran's chief diplomat in New York, Saeed Iravani, had engaged in secret talks with Trump advisor Elon Musk and even promoted investment in Iran. The hardliner daily *Kayhan*, closely aligned with Khamenei's office, sharply criticized Araghchi and went as far as accusing him of treason.

The news of the meeting, shared with The New York Times by two unnamed Iranian officials, was likely an attempt to gauge reactions from Khamenei and the IRGC, the key power brokers in Iran's government, to see if they would support or oppose the proposal. Critics also accused Araghchi of being complicit with former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal, which hardliners claimed primarily benefited the West.

On Sunday, 207 of Iran's 290 lawmakers approved the urgency of a bill calling for the dismissal of officials like Javad Zarif, whose children allegedly hold US citizenship. Iranian media report that the bill is specifically aimed at Zarif within the government.

Amid this, Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, a leader of the 1979 US embassy takeover in Tehran, in which over 50 US diplomats were held hostage, told a Tehran news outlet that "with or without negotiations with Trump, time is against Iran."

Asgharzadeh emphasized that "only innovative talks on equal footing with the United States can shift the situation in Iran's favor," while noting that "even confidence-building with China and Russia is no longer sufficient to help Iran." Now regarded as a Reformist figure, he reiterated that "dismantling the security net surrounding Iran could potentially end its dangerous isolation and pave the way for the country’s development."

He further warned that "provocative slogans and ambitious claims will surely rally the world's public opinion against us." A good example of such provocations and ambitions was Kayhan’s article that said, "If rumors about the meeting between Musk and Iravani were true, it would have been a dangerous and damaging development that would have undermined Iran's dignity and authority."

Kayhan previously accused Reformists and centrists in Iran of attempting to portray Trump as having changed since 2016, suggesting that engaging in talks with him could be Iran's path out of isolation. The publication claimed that US administrations are convinced they can extract concessions from Iran by encouraging Iranians to rise against their government, as seen in the numerous protests since 2018.

In his interview, Asgharzadeh warned that time is running out and that persisting with outdated policies will not benefit Tehran. He emphasized that Iran's primary challenge lies with the United States, a conflict he believes poses a threat to the Islamic Republic's very existence. Asgharzadeh noted that in its dispute with the US, Iran adopts a confrontational stance toward a third country, Israel, while simultaneously advocating for the rights of a fourth, the Palestinians.

The reformist figure argued that while Iran claimed President Masoud Pezeshkian's victory in the July election signaled a shift toward change and readiness for rapprochement with the West, the decision to invite Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to his inauguration undermined that message.

He observed that Trump aims to establish a new order in the Middle East and cautioned that, under the current circumstances, any action provoking a US military strike on Iran could devastate the country's economy and infrastructure, potentially triggering a domestic revolt. Instead, he advocated for a strategy of creative diplomacy to minimize the risk of military aggression against Tehran.

Ali Akbar Velayati, Advisor to the Supreme Leader on International Affairs, reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s commitment to fostering these relationships during a meeting with Zong Peiwu, China’s Ambassador to Iran.

“The expansion of relations between Iran, China, and Russia in various fields, including frameworks like Shanghai and BRICS, will have significant and lasting effects,” Velayati said Sunday.

Tehran views its partnerships within the BRICS bloc and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as critical tools for countering Western sanctions.

BRICS, established in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, added South Africa in 2010 and approved Iran’s membership in 2024.

Similarly, the SCO, founded by China and Russia in 2001, now includes ten members, including Iran, which formally joined in 2023.

Despite optimism about these alliances, criticism within Iran remains. President Masoud Pezeshkian recently called BRICS a talking club, saying that the group has yet to deliver practical solutions against US sanctions.

This frustration highlights a growing gap between Tehran’s aspirations and the tangible benefits of its Eastern pivot.

Nonetheless, Velayati emphasized the importance of these collaborations, pointing to their potential to bolster Iran’s international standing. He framed the partnerships as a cornerstone of Iran’s foreign policy, unaffected by external pressures, including changes in US leadership.

The Trump administration is expected to adopt a harder stance on China, with key figures such as John Ratcliffe, Trump’s nominee for CIA director, labeling Beijing as the primary global threat.

Ratcliffe has warned of China’s ambitions to dominate economically, militarily, and technologically, stressing a US agenda that could complicate Tehran’s growing ties with Beijing.

Velayati’s remarks come as Iranian officials maintain their defiance against US sanctions and pressure.

During Trump’s previous presidency, the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, and imposed a maximum pressure campaign. This led to severe economic repercussions for Iran, prompting the country to ramp up its nuclear activities, including enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

Trump’s return has reignited concerns about a revival of these policies. On November 16, the Financial Times reported that the incoming US administration aims to reintroduce maximum pressure to force Tehran into renegotiating its nuclear and regional policies.

Some Iranian officials, however, are urging a more aggressive approach. Ahmad Naderi, a member of Iran’s parliament, criticized the nuclear program for failing to deliver security benefits and suggested that testing a nuclear weapon might be necessary to achieve regional balance.

"I believe we must pursue atomic weapons testing, as no other path remains for us given the lack of regional balance," he added, in an apparent reference to setbacks by Iran's regional proxies.

Velayati’s remarks signal Iran’s intent to remain focused on its strategic alliances while navigating the challenges posed by shifting US foreign policy.