TEHRAN – The UK, France and Germany envoy to Tehran were summoned to Iran’s foreign ministry on Thursday to strongly protest three European countries for conspiring with the US by misusing the mechanisms of the UN Security Council by holding a closed session on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Peace and International Security Directorate said the move was “irresponsible” and “provocative.”
Despite being parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement, three European countries refused to respect their obligations under the agreement to lift sanctions against Iran.
The United States resigned from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018, in violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231, reinstating sanctions.
Foreign Ministry officials reminded these points to diplomats from three European countries.
Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme is fully compliant with its rights and obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Protection Agreement. Iran’s nuclear activity is consistent with the JCPOA. This is a document (paragraph 36) containing Iran’s voluntary trust property measures in exchange for the lifting of unfair and illegal sanctions under the agreement, and Iran is entitled to partially or completely halt in response to violations by other parties.
The convening of the Security Council’s closure meeting on Iran’s nuclear program lacks technical or legal justification and is seen as a provocative and political act in line with the US unilateral and tension-inducing approach.
Compliance between three European countries with unfounded demands from the US to hold a Security Council meeting means alignment with the parties responsible for subsequent unfavourable developments in the contract through the unilateral and illegal withdrawal from the JCPOA in a blatant violation of Security Council resolution 2231.
Just a few days ago, a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Committee, where the state expresses its views and stance on Iran’s nuclear issue and holds a Security Council meeting on Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme represents a form of destructive interference that undermines the IAEA’s technical mission and puts normal cooperation between Iran and the agency at stake.