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Iran says ready for talks, warns EU over triggering snapback

Iran Press TV

Friday, 22 August 2025 2:17 PM

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is open to any diplomatic solution that safeguards its national rights, while warning Europe that triggering the JCPOA snapback mechanism would carry serious consequences.

Araghchi made the remark in a Friday phone conversation with the EU high representative for foreign and security policy and his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany—the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Just as the Islamic Republic of Iran acts firmly in self-defense, it has never abandoned the path of diplomacy and is prepared for any diplomatic solution that guarantees the rights and interests of the Iranian people," he said.

He outlined Iran's stance on Europe's threat to invoke the so-called snapback mechanism to restore sanctions and the E3 and EU's responsibility in this regard.

The top Iranian negotiator once again emphasized that the European countries lack the legal and moral authority to resort to the mechanism, warning that triggering snapback would have consequences.

Snapback would bring into force six previous Iran-related Security Council resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010. It would reinstate the expired UN arms embargo that barred countries from supplying, selling, or transferring most military equipment to Iran and prohibited Tehran from exporting any weapons.

It would also impose export controls, travel bans, asset freezes, and other restrictions on individuals, entities, and banks.

In response to Europe's repeated suggestions of extending UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to allow more time for negotiations, Araghchi said the Council must decide in this regard.

He noted that Iran has its principled stance on the issue but will not be involved in the process.

The Islamic Republic, however, will consult and exchange views with its friends in the Security Council regarding the consequences of such an action, the Iranian foreign minister emphasized.

The foreign ministers of the European troika, along with the EU's foreign policy chief, voiced their readiness to pursue a diplomatic solution to address what they called concerns over Iran's peaceful nuclear program—even though the IAEA has repeatedly confirmed Iran's full compliance with its JCPOA obligations.

At the end, it was decided that Iran's talks with the three European countries and the EU would be continued at the level of deputy foreign ministers next Tuesday.

Iranian deputy foreign ministers Majid Takht-Ravanchi and Kazem Gharibabadi and senior representatives from the E3 countries held a closed-door meeting at Iran's Consulate General in Istanbul on July 25. The meeting, which lasted more than three hours, followed a similar round held on May 16 in Istanbul.

The Iranian foreign minister on Wednesday warned the European troika that invoking the so-called snapback mechanism would be illegal, but that Tehran has prepared a response to potential attempts to restore the UN sanctions against the country.

The path of diplomacy was derailed after Israel and the United States attacked Iran's nuclear facilities in June.