Iran warns UN Security Council against E3 “abuse” of resolution 2231

Iran has accused the United Kingdom, France, and Germany—the so-called E3—of attempting to illegitimately invoke mechanisms under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, despite what Tehran views as their sustained non-compliance and support for hostile actions against Iran.

As reported by Caliber.Az, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the issue in a post on X (formerly Twitter), revealing that he had sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the Security Council, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, and other members of the UN Security Council, outlining Iran’s position.

In a letter addressed to UNSG @Antonioguterres, the President of the Security Council, EU High Rep Kaja and members of the UN Security Council, I have outlined why the E3 lacks any legal, political, and moral standing to invoke the mechanisms of the JCPOA and UN Resolution 2231…

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 20, 2025

In his message, Araghchi wrote: "The E3 lacks any legal, political, and moral standing to invoke the mechanisms of the JCPOA and UN Resolution 2231 (2015)... Through their actions and statements, including providing political and material support to the recent unprovoked and illegal military aggression of the Israeli regime and the US; rejection of the main pillars of the JCPOA."

He criticised the E3 for failing to uphold their commitments under the nuclear accord, while accusing them of aligning with the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. According to Araghchi, these countries are now attempting to reactivate terminated UN Security Council resolutions through mechanisms that no longer apply to them.

"Iran responded to the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA by first exhausting the accord's dispute resolution mechanisms," he stated, stressing that Tehran took a gradual approach under Paragraph 36 of the agreement before adopting remedial measures.

Araghchi also pointed to the E3’s apparent duplicity, recalling their own letter to the United States in August 2020 in which they advised Washington to "refrain from any action that would only deepen divisions in the Security Council or that would have serious adverse consequences on its work."

"The E3 must heed their own advice," Araghchi insisted, asserting that their latest moves threaten the credibility of the UN Security Council itself.

He concluded his letter with a firm warning: “Iran has shown that it is capable of defeating any delusional 'dirty work' but has always been prepared to reciprocate meaningful diplomacy in good faith.”

By Vugar Khalilov