ALWAGHT- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned efforts by the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — to reinstate previously terminated UN sanctions, calling the move “without any legal basis.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Vassily Nebenzia, rejected efforts by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to revive terminated UN sanctions against Iran. The letter coincided with the expiration of Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA). Araghchi stated that Resolution 2231 has “definitively expired” and that any attempt to invoke the so-called “snapback” mechanism is “procedurally defective and substantively void,” lacking legal authority or binding effect.
Araghchi accused the three European signatories of abusing the process and acting contrary to both the spirit of the JCPOA and the UN resolution. He reaffirmed that Iran had fully complied with its obligations under the agreement, while the United States violated international law by withdrawing in 2018 and reimposing sanctions. He also criticized the European states for failing to uphold their commitments, instead imposing additional sanctions that further undermined the accord.
Despite these violations, Araghchi said Iran had exercised restraint and remained committed to diplomacy, engaging in multiple rounds of talks with both Europe and the US He denounced the European countries’ latest attempt to trigger the snapback mechanism as politically motivated and legally baseless, noting that recent UN Security Council votes showed no consensus on their claim. Araghchi concluded that all provisions of Resolution 2231 and the earlier sanctions resolutions expired on October 18, 2025, and any effort to reinstate them is “unlawful, null, and void.”
