In an official statement, the ministry reiterated that—as stated in previous positions and declarations regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, dated July 20, 2015, concerning Iran’s peaceful nuclear program—the resolution’s ten-year timeframe will end on Saturday, October 18, 2025, after which all provisions, including those imposing restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities and associated mechanisms, shall be considered terminated.

Accordingly, the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, which had been listed on the Security Council’s agenda under the category of “non-proliferation,” must now be removed from the Council’s list of items under consideration. With the expiration of Resolution 2231, Iran’s nuclear program should be treated in the same manner as that of any other non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The ministry emphasized that the sole stated purpose of placing Iran’s nuclear issue on the Security Council’s agenda was to ensure the peaceful nature of its program and to prevent any deviation toward weaponization. This objective has been fully achieved, as evidenced by the absence of any reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggesting otherwise. Despite continuous pressure from the E3 (United Kingdom, France, and Germany) and the United States on the IAEA to declare Iran in violation of its safeguards obligations, no such determination has ever been made. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite fulfilling its voluntary commitments beyond the NPT safeguards under the JCPOA, has continued to face unjust sanctions—a direct result of the E3, the European Union, and the United States failing to uphold their own obligations concerning sanctions relief.

Resolution 2231 and its annex, the JCPOA, represented a landmark achievement in multilateral diplomacy, demonstrating tangible success during the early years of implementation. Regrettably, the United States, through its irresponsible withdrawal in 2018, and the E3, through their failure to honor their commitments, undermined this important diplomatic accomplishment.

The ministry once again underscored the illegality of the actions taken by the three European parties to the JCPOA (the United Kingdom, France, and Germany), who, without any legal basis or logical justification, and merely in obedience to the United States—which had unilaterally and unjustifiably withdrawn from the JCPOA in 2018—have sought to abuse the JCPOA’s dispute resolution mechanism to reinstate expired UN Security Council resolutions. These actions have no bearing on the legal framework of Resolution 2231, including its expiration timeline, and the Resolution must therefore be regarded as concluded on its scheduled date, October 18, 2025.

Furthermore, the Ministry stressed that despite the illegal conduct of the three European states—who, at least since the U.S. withdrawal in May 2018, have been in continuous “substantial non-performance” of their own JCPOA commitments and thus disqualified from invoking the dispute resolution mechanism—the UN Security Council, due to the explicit opposition of two permanent members, China and Russia, has adopted no decision to reinstate the terminated resolutions. Consequently, the unilateral and ill-intentioned efforts of Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, as persistent violators of the JCPOA, to revive the annulled resolutions lack any legal or practical validity, and the UN Secretariat is not authorized to recognize or legitimize such actions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also recalled that six members of the Security Council, including two permanent members, opposed the unlawful move by the E3 and the United States. It referred to joint communications by Iran, China, and Russia to the UN Secretary-General, reaffirming that the Security Council has not authorized the UN Secretariat to independently assess or implement the reinstatement of the cancelled resolutions—an authority that rests exclusively with the Security Council itself.

In light of the foregoing, the Islamic Republic of Iran formally requests the UN Secretary-General, in accordance with Article 100 of the UN Charter, to immediately correct the false information posted on the United Nations website regarding the alleged “resumption” of terminated resolutions against Iran, and to prevent further procedural and legal confusion concerning the Security Council’s actions. The Government of Iran also declares that any attempt to reconstitute the UN sanctions mechanisms, including the Sanctions Committee and Panel of Experts, is unlawful, and calls upon the UN Secretariat to promptly remove such unfounded claims from the Security Council’s web pages.

This correction is especially urgent given the complete ambiguity surrounding the rationale, validity, and termination mechanisms of the now-expired resolutions. The Ministry calls on all UN member states to take into account the illegal nature of the European trio’s actions, the procedural flaws in their approach, and the absence of any Security Council decision extending Resolution 2231 or reimposing the earlier sanctions. Member states are therefore urged to reject any claim by the E3 and the United States regarding the “resumption” of the expired resolutions—including Resolutions 1696, 1737, 1747, 1803, 1835, and 1929—and to consider Resolution 2231 formally terminated.

Reaffirming the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the Security Council’s failure to denounce the military aggression of the Israeli regime and the United States against Iran’s territorial integrity, national sovereignty, and peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities. The Ministry described these brutal and aggressive attacks, which occurred amid diplomatic negotiations with the United States, as a grave betrayal of diplomacy and a serious blow to international law, including to the protective mechanisms of the non-proliferation regime. These attacks resulted in the martyrdom and injury of thousands of Iranian civilians, the destruction of thousands of residential units, and damage to peaceful nuclear infrastructure, disrupting Iran’s normal cooperation with the IAEA. Iran’s subsequent efforts to restore engagement, culminating in the Cairo Understanding, were later obstructed by the E3’s irresponsible and politically motivated misuse of the JCPOA dispute resolution mechanism.

The Ministry expressed appreciation for the responsible positions of China and Russia, as permanent Security Council members, in consistently opposing the E3’s misuse of the dispute mechanism, and extended gratitude to Algeria and Pakistan, the two non-permanent members that rejected the European initiative within the Council. The Ministry also acknowledged the positions of South Korea and Guyana, two other non-permanent members, for refraining from endorsing the E3’s illegal move.

Finally, the Ministry thanked the Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement, which, in their 19th Mid-Term Ministerial Conference in Kampala (Uganda), underscored the termination of Resolution 2231 under its Paragraph 8 and the need for full adherence to its provisions and timeline. Appreciation was also extended to the Group of Friends of the UN Charter in New York for adopting a similar stance.

The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its unwavering commitment to diplomacy, while firmly upholding the legitimate rights and lawful interests of the Iranian people in all spheres, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy.