Germany, the United Kingdom and France have said it was ready to trigger the mechanism for the recovery of sanctions against Iran if no negotiated solution is found on the Iranian nuclear program by the end of August.
Iran is working with China and Russia to prevent possible European sanctions, Iranian Diplomacy Araghchi said on Thursday. Germany, the United Kingdom and France have said it was ready to trigger the mechanism of recovery of sanctions against Iran if no negotiated solution is found on the Iranian nuclear program by the end of August, in a letter addressed Tuesday to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
“If this happens, it will be negative (…) We will try to prevent it (…) We work with China and Russia to prevent the implementation of Snapback”said Abbas Araghchi during an interview with state television. “If it does not work and they apply it, we have tools to react”he added without further details.
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The European trio, known as E3, is one of the world powers, with China, Russia and the United States, which had negotiated the historic nuclear agreement of 2015 with Tehran, providing for Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for lifting of international sanctions. The text became a lap when Washington decided to unilaterally withdraw from the treaty in 2018 under the first presidency of Donald Trump, and Tehran then freed himself from certain commitments made.
For months, Westerners have been trying to renegotiate a treaty strictly supervising the nuclear program while they suspect Iran to want to acquire nuclear weapons, which this country denies. The advancement of the Iranian nuclear program has been the subject of many speculations since the twelve -day war between Israel and Iran in June and the American strikes on Iranian nuclear installations.
“More than 40 times”
The war, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Israel against Iran, delayed the Iranian program but also put a stop on the negotiations between Tehran and Washington on the one hand and discussions with the E3 on the other. In their letter, the leaders of French, British and German diplomacy stress having “Clearly indicated that if Iran does not wish to achieve a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not take the opportunity of an extension”they are “Ready to trigger the mechanism” making it possible to restore all international sanctions against Tehran in the fall.
They denounce in particular the accumulation of a total stock of enriched uranium, “More than 40 times” higher than the limit set by the 2015 Treaty. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA), Iran is the only country not endowed with nuclear weapons to enrich uranium at a high level (60%), well beyond the limit of 3.67% fixed by the Treaty.
This letter comes as the deadline – at the end of August – to trigger the return mechanism of international sanctions in October is approaching. On July 25, French, British and German emissaries had discussions with Iranian officials in Istanbul, but without a tangible result. On July 20, Abbas Araghchi said that the E3 had no legitimacy to reset the sanctions mechanism, in a letter addressed to the UN.
