Tehran (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Iran recalled its ambassadors to France, Germany, and the UK on Saturday to consult over the dispute mechanism for reinstating UN sanctions.
A day earlier, the UN Security Council declined a last-minute attempt to postpone the sanctions before the deadline today, with Western nations stating that weeks of negotiations did not produce a “concrete” agreement.
What happened at the UN Security Council meeting?
The move follows a Russian and Chinese attempt on Friday to postpone the reinstatement of international sanctions on Iran, which was unsuccessful at the UN Security Council, as only four countries supported their draft resolution. This opened the pathway for sanctions to be reimposed.
China, Russia, Pakistan, and Algeria backed extending Iran’s negotiation period with the European countries—the E3—and the United States, which had unilaterally exited the accord with global powers in 2018 during Trump’s first term.
How did Iran’s foreign minister criticise the US and Europe?
During yesterday’s Security Council meeting, Iran’s foreign minister accused the US of betraying diplomacy and stated that France, the UK, and Germany had “buried” it.
“This sordid mess did not come about overnight. Both the E3 and the U.S. have consistently misrepresented Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.”
Shortly after the vote, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke at a meeting with journalists and Iran experts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a day before the deadline for the sanctions to kick in. Pezeshkian said that despite previous threats, Iran won’t withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty like North Korea, which abandoned the treaty in 2003 and then built atomic weapons.
According to reports, the reimposition of sanctions will once more freeze Iranian assets overseas, stop arms agreements with Tehran, and penalise any progress in Iran’s ballistic missile program, along with other measures that will tighten the country’s economic pressure.
Why did Europe trigger the snapback sanctions mechanism last month?
Last month, European leaders activated the so-called “snapback” mechanism after accusing Tehran of not complying with the accord’s conditions and following unsuccessful high-level negotiations that did not achieve a diplomatic solution.
The UK, France, and Germany called for ‘snapback’ sanctions on Iran because it has not cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency and has not engaged in direct talks with the US.
In 2007, the European nations implemented sanctions against Iran over its Nuclear program. In June of that year, EU members-leading nations, Britain, France and Germany announced sanctions against Iran for its expansion of uranium enrichment and restricted access to U.N. inspectors.
