Nournews: In their joint letter, the foreign ministers of Iran, China, and Russia strongly rejected the E3’s attempt to reinstate the revoked resolutions against Iran, calling it inconsistent with the JCPOA and Resolution 2231.
According to the letter, the move by the French, German, and British foreign ministers is “inherently flawed and inconsistent with international law.” It not only abuses the prerogatives of the Security Council, but also misleads Council members and the international community about the real roots of the disruption in the implementation of the JCPOA.
The three countries stressed that the current situation is the direct result of the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018 and Europe’s failure to compensate for its negative consequences. Until this issue is addressed, they stated, there can be no recourse to the dispute settlement mechanism against Iran. The letter further asserted that European states, themselves in violation of their JCPOA commitments, have no standing to invoke the mechanisms stipulated in the JCPOA and Resolution 2231.
The ministers also emphasized that Iran’s remedial measures, including the suspension of certain JCPOA commitments, were a legitimate response to U.S. noncompliance and European inaction, and cannot serve as grounds for triggering the snapback mechanism. The letter noted that invoking this mechanism under the current circumstances would “amount to rewarding U.S. withdrawal and European noncompliance.”
The letter further recalled that the JCPOA is an inseparable part of Resolution 2231 and noted that the Europeans have not completed the dispute settlement process under Articles 36 and 37 of the JCPOA. Therefore, the recent correspondence by the three European foreign ministers cannot be regarded as a valid notification under Paragraph 11 of Resolution 2231.
The foreign ministers of Iran, China, and Russia also cited reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stressing that Iran has fully implemented its commitments since the JCPOA came into effect in 2015. They underlined that reinstating terminated sanctions would be “irrational and unjustifiable.” According to them, such a move would not only undermine years of diplomatic effort, but also weaken the credibility of multilateral agreements and set a dangerous precedent for selective implementation of international obligations.
NOURNEWS