European officials warned on Wednesday that Iran has not done enough to stop the return of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program.
The German foreign ministry and the European Union shared their assessment of Tehran’s actions following a call between the representatives of France, Germany, the European Union’s top diplomat, the United Kingdom, and Iran.
Recommended Stories
- US strikes on Venezuela drug smugglers raise legal questions about lethal force
- Brushing aside legal questions, Trump executes another deadly strike on alleged drug runners from Venezuela
- Colorado Springs looks to rebound after Trump pulls Space Command to Huntsville
“The window for finding a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear issue is closing really fast,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, said in a statement. “Iran must show credible steps towards addressing the demands of France, U.K. and Germany, and this means demonstrating full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and allowing inspections of all nuclear sites without delay.”
The German foreign ministry also said the European leaders “underscored” to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that Iran “has yet to take the reasonable and precise actions necessary.”
After the call, Araghchi told the Western leaders they were “lacking any legal or logical justification” for initiating the resumption of sanctions, he said on Telegram, adding that “Iran is ready to reach a fair and a balanced solution that ensure mutual benefits.”
The three countries are the only three European ones that are signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the Iran nuclear deal, in which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program and have regular international inspectors from the IAEA check its facilities in exchange for sanctions relief and other provisions. The deal was signed in 2015, adopted in 2016, and President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018 during his first term.
Any of the countries in the deal can trigger the automatic, or “snapback,” resumption of U.N. sanctions that had been lifted as part of the deal if they rule that Iran is in noncompliance.
A key date in the negotiations is Oct. 18, 2025, the 10th anniversary of the deal and the deadline for determining whether to extend or terminate the mechanism to implement the snapback sanctions outlined in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231.
The French, U.K., and German foreign ministers said in August they have “unambiguous legal grounds” to reimpose the sanctions.
Tehran halted cooperation with the IAEA following the Israeli and U.S. military operations against its nuclear facilities in June.
The Israelis carried out widespread strikes in several parts of Iran, targeting nuclear facilities, senior leaders, scientists, and military arsenal. The U.S. carried out one narrow operation targeting three of Iran’s more fortified nuclear facilities.
Should the sanctions restart, they will likely worsen the relationship between Tehran and the West after the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
Fifty Senate Republicans wrote a letter to the foreign ministers of the U.K., Germany, and France on Tuesday urging them not to allow “hollow gestures and cynical threats from Tehran to stop the snapback process,” according to Jewish Insider.
Last week, Iran and the IAEA agreed “on practical modalities to resume inspection activities in Iran,” Rafael Grossi, the director general of the agency, announced.