Iran recalls ambassadors from E3 countries over nuclear deal dispute

Iran has recalled its ambassadors from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom for consultations in response to the actions of the three European countries that could soon lead to the restoration of UN sanctions.

According to Iranian media, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that the decision was taken after Britain, Germany, and France activated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) dispute resolution mechanism to reinstate UN Security Council resolutions that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear agreement.

“In response to the irresponsible actions of three European countries that abused the JCPOA dispute resolution mechanism to reinstate the cancelled UN Security Council resolutions, the ambassadors of the Islamic Republic to Germany, France and Britain have been summoned to Tehran for consultations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The move comes after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution jointly proposed by Russia and China to extend the JCPOA by six months. Moscow and Beijing argued that an extension was needed to give the parties additional time to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear program. That resolution, however, failed to pass, leaving no barrier to the automatic restoration of international sanctions initiated by the European participants of the deal. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, addressing the UN General Assembly on September 24 and later speaking on the sidelines of the session, stressed that Tehran does not seek nuclear weapons and warned that Iran would be ready to respond if sanctions are automatically reimposed.

“I reiterate before this assembly that Iran has never sought to develop nuclear weapons and will not do so,” Pezeshkian declared. He reminded the audience that Iran’s Supreme Leader had issued a fatwa in 2005 prohibiting the production of weapons of mass destruction. “We do not seek to develop nuclear weapons, and this is a matter of faith and a fatwa from our leader; therefore, we have never sought to develop such weapons of mass destruction and will not do so,” he said.

The JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, was signed in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the so-called E3/EU+3 (Britain, Germany, France, the European Union, plus China, Russia, and the United States). Under the agreement, Iran accepted strict limits on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The deal was endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231 the same year.

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Iran continued to comply with its commitments for one year before announcing in 2019 that it would no longer abide by the restrictions.

The United States has previously attempted to trigger the snapback mechanism. In August 2020, the Trump administration submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, but 13 of the 15 members opposed it. The European Troika at that time explained that, since the US had already left the JCPOA, it could not legally invoke provisions of the deal. In 2021, the Biden administration withdrew this initiative, but Trump’s Secretary of State in his second term, Marco Rubio, later announced that Washington would support a return to the snapback process. The United States has since aligned itself with the Eurotroika’s position.

The latest resolution was voted on at the UN Security Council on September 26. Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, explained that amendments were introduced to meet the Eurotroika’s demands on Tehran, including continued cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and renewed negotiations among the original JCPOA participants, which would include both Iran and the United States.

Despite these amendments, the resolution failed. Nine countries voted against it — the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, Panama, Slovenia, Somalia, the United States, Sierra Leone, and France. Four voted in favour — Algeria, China, Pakistan, and Russia. Two countries abstained — Guyana and the Republic of Korea.

By Tamilla Hasanova