Politics
European powers tell UN they are ready to reimpose Iran sanctions
- Britain, France and Germany write letter to UN secretary-general.
- Committed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, it says.
- Countries warn of using “snapback mechanism” from 2015 deal.
Britain, France and Germany have told the United Nations they are ready to reimpose UN-mandated sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme if no diplomatic solution is found by the end of August, according to a joint letter obtained by AFP.
The letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council says the three European powers are “committed to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon” unless Tehran meets the deadline.
The foreign ministers from the so-called E3 group threaten to use a “snapback mechanism” that was part of a 2015 international deal with Iran that eased UN Security Council sanctions.
Under the deal, which terminates in October, any party to the accord can restore the sanctions.
All three have stepped up warnings to Iran about its suspension of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
That came after Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June, partly seeking to destroy its nuclear capability. The United States staged its own bombing raid during the war.
“We have made clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” foreign ministers Jean-Noel Barrot of France, David Lammy of Britain and Johann Wadephul of Germany said in the letter.
All three countries were signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with the US, China and Russia that offered the carrot and stick deal for Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium needed for a nuclear weapon.
President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord in 2018 during his first term and ordered new sanctions.
The European countries said they would stick to the accord. But their letter sets out engagements that the ministers say Iran has breached, including building up a uranium stock more than 40 times the permitted level under the 2015 deal.
“The E3 remain fully committed to a diplomatic resolution to the crisis caused by Iran’s nuclear programme and will continue to engage with a view to reaching a negotiated solution.
“We are equally ready, and have unambiguous legal grounds, to notify the significant non-performance of JCPOA commitments by Iran […] thereby triggering the snapback mechanism, should no satisfactory solution be reached by the end of August 2025,” the ministers wrote in the letter first reported by the Financial Times.
No legal right to restore sanctions
The US had already started contacts with Iran, which denies seeking a weapon, over its nuclear activities.
But these were halted by the Israeli strikes in June on Iran´s nuclear facilities.
Even before the strikes, the international powers had raised concerns about the lack of access given to IAEA inspectors.
Iran halted all cooperation with the IAEA after the strikes, but it announced that the agency’s deputy chief was expected in Tehran for talks on a new cooperation deal.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to the UN last month saying that the European countries did not have the legal right to restore sanctions.
The European ministers called this allegation “unfounded”.
A number of Iranian senior leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have embraced martyrdom in the “unprovoked and unwarranted” airstrikes by Israel and the United States.
As crowds gathered in Tehran, explosions rang out, and the Israeli military announced that it was again striking targets in the heart of the city — as more blasts were heard in Jerusalem, Riyadh, Dubai, Doha and Manama.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei’s assassination a “declaration of war against Muslims” and warned: “Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime.”
Iranian state media have confirmed the killing of several senior figures:
1. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran
2. Ali Shamkhani, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Supreme Defence Council
3. General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iran’s Armed Forces chief of staff
4. Major General Mohammad Pakpour, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)
5. Aziz Nasirzadeh, Minister of Defence
6. Gholamreza Rezaian, police intelligence chief of Iran
Separately, the daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter of Ali Khamenei also embraced martyrdom in the US and Israeli airstrikes.
Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations has vehemently denounced the fresh and unprovoked Israeli-American war on the Islamic Republic, asserting that the country will continue to act in self-defense until the end of the unlawful aggression.
Amir-Saeid Iravani made the remarks at a UN Security Council meeting on Sunday regarding the joint strikes that were launched against the country earlier on Saturday.
The nation, he stated, was facing armed aggression and a war against international law, which could not be justified by any excuse.
Referring to Iran’s decisive and ongoing retaliatory strikes, under the codename Operation True Promise 4, the envoy said it serves as a legitimate act of self-defense.
The Islamic Republic would continue to exercise its legitimate right to self-defense until the aggression ends, Iravani told the world body.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has so far launched at least five waves of counterstrikes against numerous Israeli and American targets in response to the aggression.
IRGC has pledged to sustain the counterstrikes until the enemies’ “complete defeat,” while noting that the reprisal exceeds by far the proportions of its previous round of retaliations against Tel Aviv’s and Washington’s imposed war on the nation last June.
Addressing the same meeting, Russia’s UN envoy said Iran had been once again “stabbed in the back,” referring to the country’s coming under fresh aggression, while engaging in indirect talks with the United States aimed at resolving standing issues.
Vasily Nebenzya condemned an attack on a school in Iran that took place as part of the renewed aggression, claiming the lives of more than 100 people, calling it a sign of “unjustified aggression” by the Israeli regime and the United States against a UN member state.
He described the atrocities as “unjustifiable” and a “betrayal of diplomacy.”
- PM Modi describes accident as “deeply distressing”.
- Maharashtra CM terms it “extremely unfortunate.”
- Industrial accidents are common in India.
A blast at an explosives factory killed at least 17 people and injured 18 others on Sunday, officials in the western Indian state of Maharashtra said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the accident was “deeply distressing” and wished a speedy recovery to the survivors.
Maharashtra state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called the incident “extremely unfortunate and tragic” in a post on X.
The accident happened in Nagpur, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) from state capital Mumbai.
“Rescue operations have been accelerated, and so far, 17 people have lost their lives,” Fadnavis said, adding 18 others were injured.
An investigation has been ordered into the incident.
On Saturday, 21 people were killed in an explosion at a firecracker factory in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Industrial accidents are common in India, often due to disregard for safety requirements and lax enforcement.
Last year, a firework factory explosion in western India killed 21 people.
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