Britain, France, and Germany have formally notified the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that they will move to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran within 30 days if the Council fails to adopt a resolution to extend the suspension of sanctions on Tehran.
The three European countries - collectively known as the E3 - made the move in a letter to the UN Security Council.
Tehran said that the E3 move was illegal and will have negative impact on its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog known as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
On Thursday, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, stated that the decision to reimpose snapback sanctions on Iran has “no legal effect.” He told reporters in New York, “We believe that the E3’s decision cannot and should not entail any legal or procedural consequences. It is merely an escalatory step.”
Notably, on the previous day, Polyansky had announced Russia's push to extend the validity of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 - which underpins the Iran nuclear deal - by six months, until April 2026.
“Russia and China, as responsible participants in the JCPOA, wish to provide some room for diplomacy and opportunities to seek a compromise to this issue,” he said, according to Russia’s state-run news agency TASS.
As of the time of this report, China had not issued an official response to the E3’s decision. However, in mid-August, Beijing reiterated its “commitment to resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through peaceful and diplomatic means,” reaffirming that it “opposes invoking” the snapback mechanism.
MNA
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