Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, in a letter addressing the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council, emphasized that with the termination of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, any claim to “revive” the expired resolutions is fundamentally null and void.
The full text of Araghchi's letter is as following,
In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
18 October 2025
Excellency, Further to my previous communications, including the most recent dated 27 September 2025 (A/80/406–S/2025/602), I have the honour to address Your Excellency on the occasion of the definitive expiration and termination of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) on 18 October 2025, in full conformity with its own provisions. In this connection, I wish to reaffirm the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran as follows: A decade ago, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) entered into force with the endorsement of resolution 2231 (2015), reflecting the collective conviction that diplomacy and multilateral engagement remain the most effective means of addressing disputes. The Islamic Republic of Iran, consistent with its unwavering commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes, accepted and fully implemented the JCPOA in good faith and in strict conformity with its commitments.
Despite Iran’s full and verified compliance, the United States—acting in manifest violation of its obligations, first failed to perform its commitments and subsequently, on 8 May 2018, unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, reimposing and expanding its unlawful unilateral and extraterritorial sanctions. These coercive measures constituted a grave breach of international law and the UN Charter, and severely obstructed the implementation of the JCPOA. The European participants, namely, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, while initially pledging to preserve the agreement and counterbalance the U.S. withdrawal, not only failed to honour their own commitments but imposed additional unlawful sanctions on Iranian nationals and entities, thereby committing further material violations of the JCPOA.
All these serious cases of significant non-performance and egregious violations have been thoroughly documented over the past years and formally brought to your attention and that of the members of the Security Council on multiple occasions.
In the face of these continued material breaches, the Islamic Republic of Iran exercised maximum restraint and undertook extensive diplomatic efforts to restore balance and preserve the agreement. After one full year of complete compliance following the U.S. withdrawal, Iran—acting fully within its rights under the JCPOA—adopted phased, proportionate, and reversible remedial measures beginning on 8 May 2019. Thereafter, Iran engaged constructively aimed at ensuring the United States’ full return to the deal, and the EU/E3’s compliance with all their obligations, and achieve the complete lifting of sanctions. These efforts were, regrettably, obstructed by the United States and E3’s insistence on maximalist demands and the maintenance of the unlawful unilateral sanctions, which deprived the JCPOA of its essential objective: the normalization of Iran’s international economic relations.
Iran’s record of constructive engagement, including numerous rounds of consultations with the European participants and even negotiations with the U.S. side, demonstrates its consistent commitment to diplomacy. Yet, these good-faith efforts were met with acts of sabotage and aggression against Iran’s safeguarded peaceful nuclear facilities. In recent months, rather than fulfilling their obligations, the three European States have embarked upon a campaign of political manipulation and legal distortion, seeking to weaponize the very mechanism of the so-called snapback against Iran.
Against this background, on 28 August 2025, the three European States participants—without any legitimate, legal, and procedural basis, or political justification—initiated a unilateral and arbitrary attempt to invoke the so-called “snapback” mechanism, bypassing the dispute-resolution process established by the JCPOA and directly appealing to the Security Council.
The two Security Council votes held on 19 and 26 September 2025 demonstrated unequivocally the absence of consensus among Council members regarding the validity of this purported notification. Just as in 2020, when the Council confirmed that the United States lacked standing to invoke the mechanism after its withdrawal, the European notification is similarly devoid of legal basis and effect. It cannot serve as a ground for any action or determination concerning the status of resolution 2231 or the previously terminated sanctions resolutions.
As detailed in the joint letter of the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation dated 28 August 2025 (A/79/1004-S/2025/546), the European parties’ attempt to invoke the so-called “notification” is procedurally defective and substantively void. No measure taken in disregard of resolution 2231 can generate legal obligations for Member States. The Security Council’s voting record and the clear positions expressed by its members confirm that the so-called “notification” has no legal validity. Accordingly, any claim of “reviving” or “reinstating” terminated resolutions is void ab initio, lacking legal foundation and incapable of producing a binding effect.
Excellency,
In light of the foregoing, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes that the procedure pursued by the three European States constitutes a clear abuse of process, contrary to both the letter and spirit of resolution 2231 (2015) and the JCPOA. Accordingly, resolution 2231 established a clear and finite framework for the termination of all prior resolutions concerning Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme.
Pursuant to operative paragraph 8, resolution 2231 itself—and “the provisions set out in [it],” together with all previous terminated sanctions resolutions referenced therein—shall terminate automatically according to the timetable prescribed by the Council. No subsequent decision of the Security Council has extended, suspended, or otherwise modified this timetable. The deliberations and voting in the Council in September 2025 confirmed beyond doubt the absence of any consensus to amend or reinterpret the resolution’s terms.
In this regard, at the nineteenth Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), held on 15–16 October in Kampala, Uganda, 121 Member States of the Movement, in their Final Document, stressed on the timely termination of resolution 2231: “reaffirms the continued significance of the spirit of collaboration and multilateralism that led to the unanimous adoption of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), and underscores that its provisions and timelines must be strictly respected. NAM further stresses that all provisions of the resolution should be terminated in accordance with paragraph 8 of resolution 2231 thereof”.
Furthermore, resolution 2231 confers no authority whatsoever upon the Secretary-General or the Secretariat to determine, declare, reapply, or reintroduce resolutions that have been terminated under operative paragraph 8. Any such act would be ultra vires—beyond the powers conferred by the Charter and resolution 2231—and would contradict the Secretariat’s strictly administrative and impartial role under the Charter. The Secretariat is not a decision-making or interpretive body; it cannot alter or extend the legal effects of Security Council decisions, nor bind Member States by unilateral pronouncements. Any “notification” or “confirmation” by the Secretariat implying otherwise would be legally invalid and would undermine the institutional credibility of the United Nations.
Likewise, any attempt to re-establish or empower subsidiary bodies—such as the Sanction Committee and or Panel of Experts is devoid of legal basis following the termination mandated by operative paragraph 8. No Member State, Secretariat, or official may lawfully act in this regard without a new and explicit decision of the Security Council.
In consequence, resolution 2231 (2015) has remained in effect until 18 October 2025, at which point—pursuant to operative paragraph 8—all its provisions, and those of the preceding terminated sanctions resolutions, are terminated and have no continuing legal effect. No previously terminated measures may be reinstated or enforced from that date forward. Any attempt to do so shall be regarded as unlawful and null and void.
I would be grateful if you would circulate this letter as an official document of the General Assembly and of the Security Council.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi
Minister of Foreign Affairs
H.E. Mr. Antonio Guterres
Secretary-General
United Nations, New York H.E. Mr.
Vassily A. Nebenzia
President of the Security Council
United Nations, New York
MNA