Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that European powers have no authority to extend or trigger snapback sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal, insisting Tehran rejects any such move.
His remarks came after reports that Germany, France, and Britain had offered to extend the October deadline for triggering the so-called “snapback mechanism” — which would reinstate sweeping UN sanctions lifted under the accord — if Iran resumed nuclear talks with the United States and re-engaged with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“When we believe that they do not have the right to implement snapback, it is natural that they do not have the right to extend its deadline either,” Araghchi told the state-run IRNA. “We have not yet reached a basis for negotiations with the Europeans.”
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European powers had warned they would reimpose sanctions by the end of August unless Tehran curbed uranium enrichment and restored cooperation with IAEA inspectors.
The tensions follow last month’s war between Iran and Israel, which killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, including nuclear scientists and senior commanders, and led Tehran to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. Israel’s attacks targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, while Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes inside Israel. The United States also briefly intervened, hitting nuclear facilities in Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz before a ceasefire took effect on June 24.
Iran has since said its cooperation with the IAEA will take “a new form.” While Araghchi noted that Iran “cannot completely cut cooperation” with the agency, he stressed that the return of inspectors will be decided by the Supreme National Security Council.
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Nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington, already stalled since former US President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 deal, were further derailed by the recent conflict. Although IAEA officials have recently visited Tehran for consultations, no concrete breakthrough has been announced.
