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'E3 lack legal, moral standing to invoke snapback': Snippets from Iran FM's letter to UN chief

Iran Press TV

Monday, 21 July 2025 10:55 AM

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President of the UN Security Council Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, European Union High Representative Kaja Kallas and members of the UN Security Council, ruled out the legal or moral authority of the European troika to trigger snapback sanctions against the country.

He outlined how the three European countries and original signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - France, Germany and the UK - lack any "legal, political or moral standing" to invoke the mechanisms of the JCPOA and UN Resolution 2231 (2015).

Through their actions and statements, including political and material support for the recent unprovoked and illegal aggression against Iran, rejection of the main pillars of the 2015 nuclear deal, and failure to uphold their commitments, Araghchi said the E3 have relinquished their role as "participants" in the JCPOA, rendering any attempt to trigger snapback mechanism "null and void."

In a tweet, the top Iranian diplomat noted that Tehran responded to the unilateral US withdrawal from the JCPOA by first exhausting the accord's dispute resolution mechanisms before gradually implementing remedial measures under Paragraph 36 of the agreement.

"However, the E3 have reneged on their commitments and actively contributed to the so-called US "maximum pressure" policy, and recently, the military aggression against our people too. Actors with such a record ought to be the last to claim "good faith"," he added.

The letter comes just days ahead of a scheduled meeting between Iran and the E3 countries in Istanbul at the level of deputy foreign ministers.

The following are snippets from the Iranian top diplomat's letter:

• E3 actions constitute flagrant violations of their obligations under UNSC Resolution 2231 (2015), the JCPOA, and international law as a whole.
  
• JCPOA distinguishes its signatories not as 'Parties' but 'Participants'" and "Participant status is a dynamic condition contingent upon good faith compliance.
  
• Any resort to DRM or remedial measures by the European troika is null and void.
  
• Statements of the European Union constitute a clear manifestation of bad faith conduct aimed at depriving the Islamic Republic of Iran of its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
  
• E3/EU signal an intent to abuse the mechanisms foreseen in UNSCR 2231 (2015) and the JCPOA.
  
• Due to a series of legal, procedural, and substantive reasons, the E3/EU cannot legitimately invoke the DRM under the JCPOA or UNSCR 2231.
  
• Iran invoked and exhausted the DRM under Paragraph 36 to address significant non-performance. Any subsequent invocation by the E3/EU is inadmissible.
  
• The Islamic Republic of Iran formally triggered the DRM under Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA on 10 May 2018.
  
• While Iran was entitled to immediately cease compliance, it acted in good faith, postponing its remedial measures.
  
• In a 6 November 2018 letter, Iran detailed its grievances regarding E3/EU non-performance.
  
• Failure to do so, particularly regarding normal banking and financial channels, was already jeopardizing the deal's viability.
  
• In an 8 May 2019 letter, Iran officially notified the coordinator that it had exhausted the DRM procedures and would begin remedial measures.
  
• Despite convening multiple Joint Commission meetings, none of Iran's fundamental concerns were resolved.
  
• In letters on 25 June 2019 and 29 January 2020, Iran underscored how it not only invoked Paragraph 36 several times in good faith but also requested further ministerial sessions.
  
• Having gone well beyond what the JCPOA itself required... any new attempt by the E3/EU to trigger the very same paragraph is incompatible with basic principles of fairness and good faith.
  
• A party failing to fulfill its own obligations cannot then claim the benefits of the same agreement it has violated.
  
• ICJ Namibia Advisory Opinion (1971) stated that a party which disowns or does not fulfill its own obligations cannot be recognized as retaining the rights which it claims to derive from the relationship.
  
• Failure to preserve the effects of sanctions-lifting required under Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of Annex II of the JCPOA.
  
• There is a lack of any practical mechanism to shield European operators from US secondary sanctions.
  
• There are insufficient efforts to sustain lawful trade with Iran.
  
• These unremedied violations undermine the E3's legal basis for invoking the DRM.
  
• Activating the DRM while disregarding Iran's documented complaints of non-performance contradicts the Resolution's aim of ensuring balanced, good-faith compliance.
  
• Iran demonstrated restraint and patience for more than a year... before gradually implementing remedial measures>
  
• Statements were issued on 6 July and 24 September 2018 that the E3/EU did not deliver the measures they pledged, like facilitating oil exports and normalizing banking relations.
  
• Iran's letters repeatedly cited cases where the E3 effectively harmonized their policies with those of the US 'maximum pressure' campaign.
  
• In a 10 March 2020 letter, Iran reiterated its willingness to continue discussions at any level.
  
• The E3, however, persisted in referencing a 'better deal' or 'longer-term framework, contradicting the timelines explicitly negotiated in 2015 and enshrined in UNSCR 2231.
  
• The Islamic Republic of Iran has triggered—and in good faith concluded—all procedures under Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA.
  
• Any subsequent E3 effort to reopen or manipulate the same mechanism is inadmissible.
  
• Because the E3/EU themselves have not upheld key commitments... they lack the necessary standing to invoke the DRM's provisions.
  
• Attempting to trigger 'snapback' under these circumstances... constitutes an abuse of process.
  
• In the last few weeks, the E3/EU have explicitly condoned, supported and actively contributed to the unprovoked and reckless Israeli and later US aggression.
  
• The aggression came right in the middle of nuclear talks between Iran and the US.
  
• The aggression happened against safeguarded Iranian nuclear facilities and residential quarters, leading to the massacre of countless women and children as well as the cold-blooded murder of scientists and off-duty military commanders.
  
• These are all blatant violations of international law, making E3 leaders accomplices in these war crimes.
  
• The shameful statement by German Chancellor Merz on 17 June 2025 that this is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us' is a clear admission of guilt.
  
• France and the UK have voiced support for the unprovoked attacks... by invoking the claim of 'Israel's right to defense', claiming over 1,000 lives in the period 13 June 2025-24 June 2025.
  
• They have further contributed to the Israeli acts of aggression by supplying the aggressor with arms and ammunition.
  
• France admitted that it has provided direct military assistance to Israel.
  
• Statement made by French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecomu on 25 June 2025... The French Army shot down fewer than ten drones."
  
• This pattern of material assistance, public endorsement, and operational coordination... constitutes direct abetment of unlawful aggression.
  
• These acts have triggered a fundamental change in the circumstances under which the JCPOA was concluded.
  
• The entire framework of mutual obligations and expectations has been ruptured by the E3's alignment.
  
• Even the EU has breached its obligations by questioning Iran's legal rights and calling for 'ending Iran's nuclear program' as stated by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on 1 July 2025.
  
• These admissions make the E3 liable for compensation and reparation to Iran and deprive them of any legal, moral, or political ground to opportunistically invoke the DRM.
  
• If anything, E3 leaders must be held to account in international criminal tribunals as defendants for complicity in war crimes.
  
• The abhorrent statement of the G7 Foreign Ministers, which includes the E3 Foreign Ministers on 1 July 2025, that we urge Iran to refrain from reconstituting its unjustified enrichment activities, is a clear indication that the E3 have relinquished their role as 'Participants in the JCPOA.'
  
• By rejecting its most fundamental pillar—namely, Iranian enrichment—and actively participating in its dangerous destruction through an unprovoked war of aggression.