This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has called on European powers to halt threats against Tehran, including warnings about reinstating UN sanctions.
Tehran’s top diplomat wrote on X on July 18 that he told his British, French, and German counterparts, as well as the EU foreign policy chief, during a joint call that Europe “should act responsibly” and abandon “worn-out policies of threat and pressure.”
He said the EU and the European trio, the so-called E3, have “no moral or legal ground” to trigger the “snapback” of UN sanctions.
On July 15, French Foreign Minister Jean‑Noel Barrot told fellow EU ministers that the E3 is prepared to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran unless Tehran offers a “firm, tangible and verifiable commitment.”
The Europeans reiterated the same stance during the call with Araqchi, according to a French diplomatic source cited by Reuters, who said Iran was pushed to reach a “verifiable and lasting” deal with the United States.
Under the 2015 nuclear agreement — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — long‑standing UN restrictions on arms sales, banking, and nuclear‑related technology were lifted a decade ago.
European governments can still invoke the deal’s “snapback” mechanism before an October 15 deadline, a step that would restore those sanctions and give them a narrow but significant source of leverage in current negotiations.
Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the wake of the US and Israeli bombing of its nuclear sites last month.
The European are pressing for UN nuclear inspectors to resume work in Iran, aiming in part to prevent Tehran from reorganizing its nuclear program after the damage caused by the strikes.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, China and Russia — longtime supporters of Iran in such negotiations — cannot veto a snapback of sanctions. Although the formal window to trigger the mechanism closes in October, European governments could opt to postpone the move beyond that deadline to keep the door open for further talks.
Iranian and US negotiators were scheduled to meet in Oslo last week but the meeting was postponed, with apparently no new date agreed upon.
“Any new round of talks is only possible when the other side is ready for a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial nuclear deal,” Araqchi wrote on X.
Speaking at a press briefing this week, US President Donald Trump said that while Iran is eager to engage in talks, he is in “no rush” to do so, noting that “we obliterated their sites” in the June 22 strikes on nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
