Europe’s Risky Game: Iran Says Snapback Push Will Backfire

According to Saed News: Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote in the Guardian following the action of three European countries — the U.K., France, and Germany — to send a letter to the U.N. Security Council seeking to reactivate the snapback mechanism against Iran.

Araghchi accused Europe of acting as an enabler for U.S. overreach. He emphasized that Europe, once a moderate force attempting to check Washington’s maximalist goals in the region, has now facilitated U.S. ambitions. The snapback initiative, he explained, lacks legal basis because it ignores the sequence of events that led Iran to take remedial actions under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

He stressed that it was the U.S., not Iran, that unilaterally left the JCPOA and that European countries failed to meet their obligations, even openly welcoming attacks on Iranian facilities in June. Selective enforcement of international commitments by the three European nations, as also noted by China and Russia, renders their actions null and ineffective.

Araghchi further warned that Europe’s approach, motivated by potential leverage in other negotiations, is misguided and will only remove them from future diplomatic processes, harming their global credibility. He urged that a genuine dialogue must begin with clarity on the meaning of “participation” in the JCPOA, emphasizing that Iran remains ready for diplomacy under fair and mutually respected conditions.

The minister concluded by stating that Iran is prepared for a real and sustainable agreement involving strict monitoring and enrichment limits in exchange for sanctions relief. Delays or further provocations, he warned, could have unprecedentedly destructive consequences for the region and beyond.