In a phone call with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the foreign ministers of the UK, France, Germany, and the EU's top diplomat reiterated their decision to trigger the UN snapback sanctions mechanism if no credible progress is made in talks by autumn.
According to a report by France 24, top European diplomats have warned Iran they are prepared to trigger the UN "snapback" mechanism — reimposing international sanctions — if Tehran fails to make concrete progress on reviving the nuclear deal by the end of summer.
In talks with Iran’s foreign minister, the UK, France, Germany, and the EU emphasized the urgency of returning to diplomacy amid rising tensions following Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.
The diplomats, from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union, told Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of "their determination to use the 'snapback' mechanism -- which allows for the reimposition of all international sanctions against Iran -- in the absence of concrete progress" towards a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme "by the end of the summer", the French foreign ministry said.
Tehran and Washington were engaged in negotiations led by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US President Donald Trump's foreign envoy Steve Witkoff and had conducted five rounds of indirect talks mediated by Oman when Israel launched a series of unprovoked aggressions, which upended the process.
On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a press briefing that the so-called snapback mechanism has no legal or political basis, and any threat to invoke it is purely a political maneuver aimed at confronting Iran.
“With recent developments in the past few weeks, resorting to such an unfounded mechanism—lacking legal, ethical, or political grounds—is more meaningless than ever,” he added.
He stressed that Iran still considers itself a party to the JCPOA, and its reduction in commitments was a legitimate response to the United States and other parties’ blatant violations of the deal. This was a right outlined in the JCPOA, he noted.
Baghaei also criticized the European parties for continually trying to exploit the snapback clause while failing to uphold their own obligations under the agreement. “They have no legal or moral standing to activate such a mechanism,” he concluded.
MNA/
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