Iran to Europeans: You Lack Legal Jurisdiction to Trigger Snapback

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has firmly rejected attempts by Britain, France and Germany—the so-called E3—to reinstate UN sanctions lifted under Resolution 2231 [2015], declaring the move “invalid and ineffective”.

In a letter to European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who coordinates the nuclear deal’s Joint Commission, Araghchi emphasized that Resolution 2231 “must expire according to its scheduled timeline on October 18, 2025”.

He argued that “attempts by the E3 to revive UN Security Council resolutions that were terminated under Resolution 2231 are invalid and ineffective”.

The foreign minister accused the Europeans of lacking “legal jurisdiction to initiate the automatic restoration” of sanctions, stressing that their actions ignored “essential facts and procedural history” of the 2015 nuclear deal.

He reminded them that Iran itself was the first to activate the dispute resolution mechanism after the US withdrawal in 2018, citing letters and Joint Commission meetings that year.

Araghchi dismissed a similar 2020 attempt by the E3 as “illegitimate,” underscoring that it was rejected by Iran, Russia, and China. He further highlighted that the Europeans had failed to fulfill “eleven additional commitments” aimed at preserving the nuclear agreement, describing the EU’s financial mechanism INSTEX as “symbolic and ineffective”.

Turning to broader geopolitical issues, Araghchi blamed the collapse of recent Vienna talks on “US obstinacy, domestic political constraints, and the E3’s insistence on linking talks to unrelated issues”.

He also condemned the EU’s silence over recent US and “Israeli” attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, branding them “clear violations of the UN Charter and international law,” while criticizing European support for such actions.

Reaffirming Iran’s “readiness to resume fair and balanced diplomatic negotiations,” Araghchi urged the EU to avoid “selective interpretations” and instead commit to “genuine diplomacy and the preservation of multilateralism”.

The letter was circulated not only to Kallas but also to UN Secretary General António Guterres and all members of the Security Council, signaling Tehran’s intent to formally challenge the legitimacy of the E3’s snapback move.