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Snapback sanctions, any hostile action will nullify Iran's new deal with IAEA: FM

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 10 September 2025 3:34 PM

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran's new agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the resumption of cooperation will remain valid as long as no hostile action is taken against the Islamic Republic, including the re-imposition of UN sanctions.

"This document and its continuation are conditional on no hostile action being taken against the Islamic Republic of Iran. For instance, if the so-called snapback mechanism is activated, the implementation of this document will also be halted," Araghchi told Iranian media on Tuesday at the end of his trip to Egypt, where the deal was clinched.

'Snapback' refers to the automatic reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran. It is a mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers.

On August 29, France, Germany, and Britain (the E3) triggered the countdown for the automatic return of UN sanctions, including a comprehensive arms embargo and major banking and shipping restrictions on Iran.

Iran has condemned the move, saying the three countries have been influenced by the United States, which withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018.

Araghchi said the new agreement with the IAEA took into consideration the new conditions that arose after the US attack on Iran's peaceful nuclear sites.

"As one of the members of the NPT and based on previous agreements, we always cooperated with the Agency, and our program has also been peaceful and under the Agency's supervision."

"However," Araghchi stated, "after the (US) attack, conditions changed, and in talks with the Agency, we emphasized that cooperation can no longer continue as before and that a new framework must be defined for it."

The Iranian minister said central to the agreement is that it "officially recognizes the new conditions that have emerged" and that Iran's cooperation with the IAEA must take place within a new framework.

He said the document acknowledges that Iran's security concerns are "legitimate and must be taken into account."

Noting that the law of the Iranian Parliament has been "explicitly" acknowledged in the document, Araghchi said the cooperation with the Agency will take place within the framework of this law and in full coordination with Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

He said the new agreement does not grant the IAEA inspectors any access, noting that the form of inspections and the access the IAEA should have will be determined in future talks.

"Overall, it can be said that a new step has been taken in the right direction," the Iranian minister said.

Araghchi said the new step "completely eliminates pretexts and disarms those who sought to exploit the situation for their own goals."

He expressed hope that the agreement will "pave the way for a diplomatic solution." Araghchi said the other side must also be "sincere and serious" in this regard.

The agreement was signed between Araghchi and the Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, in Cairo, on September 9.

The agreement came about after the Islamic Republic suspended cooperation with the IAEA in the aftermath of the unprovoked acts of aggression by the United States against key Iranian nuclear facilities in June.

The suspension came into force in line with a law passed by the Iranian Parliament that had been passed in protest at an anti-Iran resolution ratified by the IAEA under Western and Israeli pressure, which was used by the aggressors to try to justify the attacks in June.