Foreign Ministry statement on the United Kingdom, Germany, and France's unlawful actions to reinstate UN Security Council sanctions on Iran
29 August 2025 10:35
1395-29-08-2025
Despite Russia and China's vigorous efforts to create proper conditions for keeping up the substantive dialogue on settling the Iranian nuclear programme-related issues, including the two countries submitting a corresponding draft resolution to the UN Security Council, on August 28, the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany, and France sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council alleging significant non-compliance by the Iranian side with its obligations under the JCPOA.
This letter is presented as a notification provided for by paragraph 11 of UNSC Resolution 2231, which triggers a further chain of steps to reinstate long-abrogated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. In reality, it cannot be considered as such. We resolutely condemn these actions by the European countries and call on the international community to reject them. Such manipulations cannot entail any obligations for other states.
In fact, we are dealing with a brazen attempt by the European participants of the JCPOA to manipulate the provisions of UNSC Resolution 2231. Taking advantage of the fact that the mechanism for reinstating previous sanctions contained in this resolution referred to as the "snapback" is a unique and rather complex procedural construct with no precedent in international practice, the British and two other European countries have appropriated the right to interpret the application procedure as they see fit. However, the JCPOA and Resolution 2231 were built on carefully balanced interests, without which the agreements cease to function properly.
The above letter by high-ranking representatives of the British, German, and French authorities to the Panamanian UNSC presidency is part of a long-running campaign they have been conducting to mislead other states in order to legitimise their claims to use the snapback mechanism in order to settle political scores with Tehran. In reality, they have no legal grounds or procedural possibilities to do so.
The Russian side has circulated a detailed analysis at the UN explaining the flawed basis and invalidity of the European claims to the snapback. China has presented extensive arguments on this matter. This topic is not new. Following the United States, the British and the Euro duo have long embarked on the slippery path of a demonstrative refusal to implement Resolution 2231, depriving themselves of the opportunity to use the tools for disciplinary action contained within it. Berlin, London, and Paris not only agreed to comply with the illegal restrictions imposed by Washington on Tehran, but also adopted their own, including contrary to the arrival of the JCPOA Transition Day on October 18, 2023. As usual, they admit no guilt and place full responsibility for the actual collapse of the nuclear deal on Tehran.
The facts are that the Europeans cannot file a "complaint" with the UNSC under paragraph 11 of Resolution 2231, bypassing the stage of dispute resolution in the Joint Commission, as provided for by paragraph 36 of the JCPOA. Their assertions that they have taken all the necessary steps in this regard do not correspond to reality. The JCPOA Joint Commission has not convened to consider the European claims of January 14, 2020, and the dispute resolution mechanism provided for by paragraph 36 of the JCPOA has not been activated. This was explicitly stated, in particular, in the comments by the Russian Foreign Ministry on January 14 and January 24, 2020, which our European opponents prefer not to mention. Clarifications on this matter have been repeatedly provided by us during meetings dedicated to reviewing the UN Secretary-General's reports on the implementation of Resolution 2231. By continuing to promote their distorted version of events, the Europeans are once again committing a sin against the truth, apparently not fully realising that a letter to the UNSC bypassing the provisions of paragraph 36 of the JCPOA is in itself a violation of this resolution.
By concluding the JCPOA and honestly implementing it over several years, including during the year after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal, Iran answered all outstanding questions to it, for the clarification of which the agreements in question had been concluded. This is reflected in the corresponding IAEA decisions and reports, something that Europe prefers not to talk about today, just like it prefers not to mention the fact that the problems in implementing the JCPOA were created not by Iran, but by Western countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, which failed to reinstate the nuclear deal, even though the Iranian side was ready to do so in December 2022. We strongly believe that the disruption of the JCPOA's implementation through the fault of the Americans and Europeans cannot constitute grounds for imposing demands on Tehran under the previously abrogated sanctions, especially so since such demands have long lost their relevance.
The attempts by the United Kingdom, Germany, and France to activate the snapback mechanism are a serious destabilising factor that undermines efforts at various levels to find negotiated solutions that would eliminate any suspicions and prejudices regarding Iran's peaceful atom based on international law and with due regard for Tehran's legitimate interests. We consider it important to prevent another escalation around the Iranian nuclear programme, which, as the foreign aggression against Iran in June showed, will entail grave consequences for international peace and security.
By acting deliberately outside the legal framework and inciting other states to take the path of arbitrariness, the European JCPOA participants are only aggravating their position as violators, which is reprehensible and unacceptable. We urgently call on them to reconsider and revise their erroneous decisions before they lead to irreparable consequences and another tragedy. We are convinced that their confrontational policy towards Tehran has no prospects.
The primary objective today is to resume a constructive dialogue between the involved parties and to pursue a focused collective search for solutions that would help avert another crisis. The European countries still have a chance to make a constructive contribution to the common cause by supporting the Russian-Chinese draft UNSC resolution on a technical six-month delay in implementing the JCPOA and Resolution 2231. We hope they will use this opportunity, being fully aware of the measure of responsibility they bear for the consequences if they reject the path of diplomacy.
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