Iran has firmly rejected European threats to trigger a UN sanctions “snapback” over stalled nuclear negotiations. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told European diplomats that they have “no moral or legal grounds” to reactivate sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal. His comments followed a conference call with foreign ministers from Britain, France, and Germany, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
The EU trio (E3) warned that unless Iran makes real progress toward a new nuclear deal by the end of August, they would move to restore UN sanctions lifted under the original agreement. French officials said that a snapback could be triggered without further negotiations if Iran fails to commit to a clear path forward. France’s foreign minister previously argued such action would be “justified” due to Iran’s non-compliance and stalled diplomacy.
In response, Araghchi accused Europe of clinging to “worn-out policies of threat and pressure” and emphasized that diplomacy can only resume if talks are “fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial.” He added that threats would only damage the chance of any progress, echoing remarks he made earlier to Le Monde, where he warned sanctions pressure undermines diplomacy.
I had a joint teleconference with E3 FMs & EU HR last night, in which I made the following points clear:
It was the US that withdrew from a two-year negotiated deal -coordinated by EU in 2015- not Iran; and it was US that left the negotiation table in June this year and chose a… pic.twitter.com/NFQdK2HZD4
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 18, 2025
Tensions have increased since last month’s joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites, which halted indirect talks between Iran and the United States. Both countries have since signaled a possible return to negotiations, but Iran insists it won’t abandon its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Adding to Iran’s hard line, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared this week that Tehran will not accept any deal that demands it halt uranium enrichment. With the 2015 deal set to expire in October, time is running out for the involved parties to resolve the impasse and prevent the reimposition of sanctions.