Iran on Monday blamed Britain, France, and Germany for not respecting the 2015 nuclear deal. The agreement limited Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions. However, Iran said the European countries failed to uphold their promises and protect Iran from U.S. sanctions. This failure led Iran to gradually reduce its commitments under the deal.
The 2015 deal was signed by Iran and major world powers, including the UN Security Council’s permanent members and Germany. It aimed to stop Iran from making nuclear weapons and promote peaceful nuclear energy. The United States left the deal in 2018 during Donald Trump’s presidency and reimposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran. Since then, many Western companies pulled out of Iran, deepening its economic crisis.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baqaei, criticized Europe for being negligent in implementing the deal. He said Iran only reduced its commitments because Europe did not provide effective support against U.S. sanctions. Baqaei called Europe’s recent threats to reimpose sanctions “meaningless, unjustifiable, and immoral,” adding that Iran acted within the agreement’s provisions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran now enriches uranium up to 60 percent purity, far exceeding the 3.67 percent cap set by the deal. Enriching uranium beyond 90 percent could be used to build a nuclear weapon. This advancement has raised alarms among Western nations and increased fears of nuclear proliferation in the region.
France, Britain, and Germany recently warned they might trigger the UN snapback mechanism to restore sanctions on Iran. Tehran strongly opposed this move, saying it violates the deal’s rules and ignores Europe’s own failures. Iran insists it continues to follow the deal but responds to Western breaches. The situation heightens tensions and uncertainty in global efforts to manage Iran’s nuclear program.