Gharibabadi: Activating snapback mechanism will halt Iran-IAEA agreement

Tehran - BORNA - Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs, in an interview, referred to the recent UN Security Council vote, noting that the process was carried out under Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA, but it lacked the necessary consensus. In the vote, four countries supported, two abstained, and nine voted against.

Gharibabadi stressed that the three European countries and the European Union have never honored their obligations under the JCPOA. Since the US withdrawal from the deal in 2018, they have failed to implement any of their commitments.

He added that these countries now claim Iran has not complied with its commitments and, using this pretext, have triggered the illegal snapback mechanism.

Highlighting Iran’s diplomatic efforts to prevent this action, Gharibabadi said that Tehran has always acted rationally and responsibly, pursuing diplomacy with dignity and authority.

He referred to the recent understanding between Iran and the IAEA in Cairo and the reasonable proposal presented by Iran’s foreign minister to the three European states, which even the French president described as reasonable. This proposal, he said, could have resolved issues surrounding the snapback mechanism, but the Europeans rejected it with unfounded excuses.

The senior Iranian diplomat dismissed claims that Iran’s foreign minister lacked full authority, stressing that the minister speaks with the full backing of the Establishment.

He underscored that Europe’s move not only weakens diplomacy but also demonstrates its alignment with America’s unilateral policies.

Iran, Gharibabadi said, condemns this illegal action and calls on the international community to reject and deny legitimacy to it.

UN sanctions serious but mostly psychological

On the recent move by the three European states to complete the snapback process and reinstate terminated UN sanctions, Gharibabadi stated that unless a new diplomatic development occurs in the coming six to seven days, the sanctions will be reactivated within a week.

He noted that while the UN sanctions should not be ignored, they are not comparable to the unilateral sanctions Iran has endured throughout its history. Iran has already faced the harshest and most unjust unilateral sanctions.

According to Gharibabadi, the UN sanctions will not add anything significant to Iran’s existing sanctions regime. However, he warned against falling into the psychological warfare trap designed by Western states and the US.

Gharibabadi further urged economic experts to provide accurate analyses to clarify the dimensions of these sanctions for the public, thereby reducing their psychological effects.

Return of UN sanctions will halt Iran-IAEA Cairo agreement

Gharibabadi warned that if the terminated UN Security Council sanctions are reinstated by September 27, 2025, the agreement signed between Iran and the IAEA in Cairo will be completely suspended.

He stressed that there is still a week left to prevent the return of sanctions, but if no special diplomatic effort is made and the sanctions are reimposed, halting the agreement with the Agency will be a logical and inevitable step.

He reminded that after signing the Cairo agreement, Iran’s foreign minister had clearly stated that any hostile action against Iran—including the return of UN sanctions or the snapback mechanism—would be considered grounds for ending the agreement.

Gharibabadi concluded that Iran’s next steps in response are being studied at the level of senior policymaking, and the decisions will be announced at the appropriate time. He emphasized that Iran will act with full vigilance against hostile actions and will adopt proportionate responses.

The remarks come as the UN Security Council prepares to vote on whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Britain, France, and Germany have pushed for the so-called snapback mechanism to be activated, accusing Iran of failing to honor its commitments. Under the JCPOA’s dispute resolution process, any party that claims non-compliance by Iran can seek the reinstatement of six earlier Security Council resolutions, adopted between 2006 and 2010. Iran argues that the Europeans cannot invoke the mechanism because they were the first to violate the deal, refusing to compensate for the US withdrawal in 2018. Tehran says it only reduced its nuclear commitments in response to that breach.

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