Iran, Russia FMs: Europe Lacks ‘Legal, Moral’ Authority to Activate ‘Snapback'

The countries’ top diplomats, Abbas Araghchi and Sergei Lavrov, made the remarks in a phone call on Friday, according to Press TV.

The officials referred to the trio’s increasingly incremental efforts to have the Security Council restore the bans on the eve of expiration of UNSC Resolution 2231. The resolution was issued after conclusion of a 2015 nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and world countries, including the three European parties, endorsing the deal and lifting the sanctions.

Accusing the Islamic Republic of “diverting” its peaceful nuclear energy activities towards “military purposes,” the European countries have been trying to trigger the deal’s so-called “snapback” mechanism. The mechanism enables the sanctions’ return before the resolution’s expected expiration in October.

Araghchi and Lavrov reminded that the European states’ refusal to commit to their obligations under the JCPOA, and their alignment with the United States in the latter’s aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities in June, had robbed them of any excuse to resort to the “snapback.”

In 2018, the US left the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in an illegal and unilateral move that was followed by Washington’s returning its sanctions against Iran. The European trio, not only failed to live up to their promise of returning the US to the deal, but also followed in Washington’s footsteps by returning their own economic bans targeting the Islamic Republic.

Earlier this year, they also prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to issue an unfounded anti-Iran resolution that provided Washington with a so-called excuse to launch the attacks on the nuclear sites. Additionally, the European states threw all-out political support behind the aggression after its perpetration.

The Iranian and Russian foreign ministers, meanwhile, underlined the necessity of Resolution 2231’s termination at the scheduled time. According to Araghchi, any decision on extending the resolution rests with the Security Council and its members.

Both officials, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of continuing mutual engagement and consultations at various levels as a means of contributing to the advancement of their countries’ common stances.