A few days before the deadline fixed by the European powers to re -impose UN sanctions against Tehran, Iran and Russia display a common front. On Friday, the head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in order to coordinate their positions in front of the so -called “snapback” mechanism, provided for in the 2015 nuclear agreement.
According to Araghchi, European countries-United Kingdom, France and Germany-have “neither legal legitimacy nor moral legitimacy” to activate this device, because of their “repeated violations” of the agreement and their alignment with American strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. He warned that the restoration of sanctions would have “devastating and unpredictable consequences” for the region, while insisting that this would not mean the end of diplomatic efforts.
China, also involved in the agreement, said this week to the UN Security Council that it firmly opposed the reintroduction of sanctions. Beijing stressed that the current impasse results above all from American and European violations, not Iranian commitments. For his part, the Russian representative with international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Oulianov, recalled that the countries of the E3 themselves do not respect resolution 2231, and therefore cannot legitimately activate the mechanism. Discussions between Iran and Europeans must resume next Tuesday in Vienna, at the level of vice-ministers in foreign affairs. The European Union still hopes to tear off from Iranian concessions to avoid a return to the heavy UN sanctions, in particular the embargo on arms and ballistic restrictions.