France, Germany, and Britain lack the authority to trigger a mechanism under the 2015 nuclear deal to reinstate UN sanctions on Tehran, Iran’s foreign minister said in a letter to the UN secretary general ahead of a fresh round of talks with the E3 slated for Friday.
“The E3 have relinquished their role as ‘Participants’ in the JCPOA, making any attempt to reinstate terminated UNSC resolutions null and void,” Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X on Sunday.
He said the three European countries "lack any legal, political, and moral standing to invoke the mechanisms of the JCPOA and UN Resolution 2231" after what he called their support for the Israeli-American war on Iran and their violation of their commitments under the deal and the resolution.
The remarks were part of a letter he wrote to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and the president of United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
New round of talks
Iran and the European troika will hold nuclear talks on Friday in Istanbul, Turkey, Iran's state TV announced on Sunday, citing the foreign ministry spokesman.
Deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will represent Iran in the nuclear talks with Britain, France and Germany, Esmaeil Baghaei said.
The talks are being held upon the E3's request, he added.
“We are in a strong position and are pursuing our rights more firmly than before,” the state broadcaster reported citing foreign minister Araghchi.
Tehran's diplomatic efforts come ahead of the E3's late August deadline to trigger the so-called "snapback" mechanism.
On Thursday, the E3 told Iran that they would restore the UN sanctions unless it reopened talks on its nuclear program immediately and produced concrete results by the end of August.
The snapback mechanism is part of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. It allows any participant in the nuclear agreement -- the E3, Russia and China -- to reimpose sanctions if Iran is deemed non-compliant. If no resolution to maintain sanctions relief is passed within 30 days, all previous UN measures return automatically.
In a phone call with Araghchi on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Kallas offered the extension of the snapback deadline under the nuclear deal, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources, provided Iran resume cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and place specific limits on its enriched uranium stockpile.
Germany’s foreign minister,. vowed to trigger the snapback mechanism if no deal is reached by the end of summer.
"We are firmly determined, firstly, to do everything possible to achieve a negotiated diplomatic solution (on Iran nuclear program), but secondly, we are equally determined, if that fails, to activate the snapback mechanism," Johann Wadephul said on Friday.
