TEHRAN: France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have warned they will move to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran if a nuclear agreement is not reached by the end of August, reviving tensions over Tehran’s atomic program, reported by Mehr News Agency.
In a joint letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Security Council, the so-called E3 said they are prepared to trigger the “snapback mechanism” under the 2015 nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — should Iran reject a diplomatic settlement or an extension.
The Financial Times reported that the letter, signed by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, followed a July 26 meeting in Istanbul where the E3 offered to delay sanctions if Tehran met “legal obligations” and “certain conditions.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, told Japan’s Kyodo News that while Tehran could be flexible on enrichment capacity and limits, halting uranium enrichment entirely was “nonnegotiable.” “We need to rely on ourselves, not on empty promises,” he said.
In a separate meeting with Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had formally told Guterres that the E3 lacked the “legal, political, and moral authority” to invoke the snapback provision.
The standoff comes as Western governments push to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting economic sanctions, a framework that has frayed since the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018.
