BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 21. The efforts by three European countries (the UK, France, and Germany) to reinstate the UNSC’s lifted sanctions against Iran lack any legal basis, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas, and members of the Security Council, Trend reports.
Araghchi emphasized that statements and actions by E3 constitute flagrant violations of their obligations under UNSC Resolution 2231 (2015), the JCPOA, and international law as a whole.
He further noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran formally
triggered the DRM under Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA on 10 May 2018,
following the unlawful withdrawal of the United States from the
agreement and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions. While Iran
was entitled to immediately cease compliance, it acted in good
faith, postponing its remedial measures to allow the E3/EU time to
meet their obligations. The failure to do so, particularly
regarding normal banking and financial channels, was already
jeopardizing the deal's viability. Iran's letters repeatedly cited
cases where the E3 effectively harmonized their policies with
those of the U.S. "maximum pressure" campaign, rather than
fulfilling independent obligations.
On January 16, 2016, the JCPOA came into force between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions on Iran starting from November 2018. In 2020, Iran announced that it would no longer be bound by restrictions outlined in the nuclear agreement.
The “snapback” mechanism is based on Articles 36 and 37 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). According to these provisions, if one party complains that another has violated the agreement and resolution efforts fail, the issue can be brought before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). If the UNSC accepts the complaint, international sanctions against Iran can be reinstated, and the Security Council members may authorize military operations against Iran.
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