E3 Has No legal Right To Snap Back UN Sanctions: Gharibabadi

Kazem Gharibabadi, the deputy for legal and international affairs at Foreign Ministry has presented a report to the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on the recent meeting with the three European countries on several issues, including the so-called “snapback mechanism.”

According to Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for the parliamentary committee, Gharibabadi told lawmakers and officials during the meeting on Sunday that the Europeans have no legal right to activate the snapback as they failed to fulfill their own obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Rezaei said that the members of the commission were handed over a report on the Istanbul meeting with three European countries – Britain, France and Germany, collectively known as E3 – as well as his recent trip to New York.

“We protested the positions of E3 regarding the Israeli and U.S. aggression and the attack on our nuclear facilities and the lack of condemnation of those crimes,” read the report.

Responding to the members’ questions, Gharibabadi explained the measures taken by the Foreign Ministry against the European threat to activating the snapback mechanism, saying they do not have the right to do so.

“Two identical letters signed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi were sent to the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and the rotating President of the Security Council, in which, Tehran denounced any attempt to activate the snapback as illegal and unlawful,” he said.

The spokesperson for the parliamentary committee said that Gharibabadi also talked about the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calling it “mandatory” and that the Foreign Ministry adhere to it.

Regarding the discussion or negotiations with the US, Gharibabadi told the committee that nothing new had happened as Iran’s principles for talks are clear and consistent; that is, the rights of the Iranian nation, including the right to enrich, must be respected.