TEHRAN (Realist English). Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has rejected what he called any legal, political, or moral right for France, Germany, or the United Kingdom to invoke the snapback mechanism under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), arguing that the three European countries have forfeited their standing in the agreement.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the Security Council, its member states, and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, Araghchi stated on Sunday that the E3 had failed to uphold their JCPOA obligations and instead aligned themselves with U.S. and Israeli pressure campaigns against Iran.
“The E3 have openly supported the recent unprovoked military aggression of the Israeli regime and the United States, rejected core principles of the JCPOA, and continuously failed to meet their commitments,” Araghchi wrote. “Through these actions, they have effectively relinquished their status as ‘Participants’ in the agreement.”
As such, Iran considers any attempt by the E3 to restore terminated UN Security Council sanctions through Resolution 2231 as “null and void.”
Araghchi reiterated that Iran had fully engaged the JCPOA’s dispute resolution mechanisms following the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, and only then implemented reciprocal steps under Paragraph 36 of the deal. Despite these efforts, the E3 chose to back the Trump-era “maximum pressure” campaign, he said.
“These are not actions of parties acting in good faith,” he wrote, adding that the E3 must not be allowed to “undermine the credibility of the Security Council by misusing a resolution they themselves have failed to respect.”
Araghchi also pointed to an August 2020 letter in which the E3 had urged the United States not to misuse the snapback mechanism after it exited the agreement. “They should now follow their own advice,” he said, “and refrain from actions that would deepen divisions within the Security Council or compromise its integrity.”
In his recent calls with the foreign ministers of Germany, France, the UK, and Kaja Kallas, Araghchi warned that if the EU and its three leading members wish to have a role in future nuclear talks, they must abandon “worn-out policies of threat and pressure.”
“If the E3 want to have a seat at the table, they should act responsibly and stop invoking the snapback — a mechanism for which they now have no legal or moral basis,” he said.
Araghchi concluded by reaffirming Iran’s readiness to respond to diplomatic engagement with equal goodwill, while warning that the country would remain firm in the face of what he called any external “dirty work.”
