Araqchi stated that he confirmed with the foreign ministers of China and Russia the ‘illegality of the troika’s efforts to activate the sanctions reimposition mechanism,’ emphasizing that ‘the troika’s step to reactivate sanctions is politically destructive.’ He added that ‘the European Union’s attempt to activate the sanctions mechanism against Tehran is baseless from a legal standpoint,’ continuing, ‘Europe has not fulfilled its commitments, and these facts should form the framework for any serious dialogue in the Security Council.’
The European ‘troika’ countries (France, Germany, the United Kingdom) sent a letter to the UN Security Council last Thursday, stating that they have begun implementing the ‘trigger mechanism’ to reimpose sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear program. The foreign ministers of the troika informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the activation of the ‘trigger mechanism’ to reimpose all UN Security Council sanctions on Iran.
In contrast, Abbas Araqchi sent an official letter to Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief and coordinator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), stating that ‘Europe has not fulfilled its trade and economic commitments since the agreement was signed in 2015.’
Last Thursday, Dmitry Polyanskiy, the acting permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, expressed Russia’s disappointment with the troika’s decision, considering that reimposing sanctions on Iran is an ‘escalatory decision that should not have any legal or procedural consequences.’
The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), led to the lifting of UN, US, and European sanctions on Tehran in exchange for imposing restrictions on its nuclear program. The agreement, endorsed by the UN Security Council in July 2015, is expected to end on October 18th of the coming year. After its expiration, any party to the agreement can reactivate sanctions against Iran.
Reimposing the sanctions means applying all sanctions against Tehran imposed by the UN Security Council from 2006 to 2010, which includes bans on arms, uranium enrichment and reprocessing, ballistic missile programs capable of carrying nuclear weapons, bans on transferring ballistic missile technology and technical assistance, global targeted asset freezes, and travel bans on individuals and entities from Iran.
The sanctions also allow countries to inspect shipments of Iran Air Cargo and Iranian shipping lines for prohibited goods.
