Iran Hints at 90% Enrichment, NPT Exit if Snapback Triggered

According to Saed News, Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said Saturday that the Islamic Republic is already functioning under sanctions equivalent to those imposed by the JCPOA’s snapback clause. He dismissed threats from Europe as “ineffectual,” suggesting that Iran’s potential responses could include 90% uranium enrichment and formal withdrawal from the NPT.

“Snapback, in practice, has already occurred,” Rezaei said, noting that U.S. sanctions following its JCPOA withdrawal were “maximum and comprehensive.” He added that further escalation—such as referring Iran to the UN Security Council under Chapter VII—amounts to recycled rhetoric.

Rezaei pointed to the recent U.S.-Israeli 12-day war, during which Iran’s military infrastructure was targeted, as proof that deterrence—not diplomacy—safeguards national security. “Effective counteraction is the only way to prevent repetition,” he said.

His remarks follow a July 17 warning from France, Germany, and the UK (E3), which gave Iran until late August to rejoin nuclear talks or face automatic restoration of UN sanctions under Resolution 2231.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected the ultimatum, citing the destruction of safeguarded nuclear sites by allied U.S.-Israeli strikes. “Snapback has lost its legal and moral basis,” he told E3 diplomats.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei echoed the sentiment, pledging a “proportionate response” to any renewed sanctions.

Analysts argue that the snapback mechanism no longer applies due to fundamental shifts, including the bombing of sites it was meant to regulate and Europe’s failure to condemn violations of international law. With the E3’s legal standing in question, and any future sanction relief now vulnerable to Russian or Chinese vetoes, the threat of snapback may have become a diplomatic relic.