TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi issued a harsh warning to the UK on Tuesday, saying London’s clear claims about Iran’s “zero enrichment” would waste further dialogue on the nuclear issue.
Araghchi’s declaration was made via a post on social media platform X. This responded to a recent statement by the United States British Ambassador Peter Mandelson.
“Iran maintains multilateral involvement in good faith with UK and other European JCPOA participants,” said a top Iranian diplomat, “despite the continued interest in the US being involved in the ongoing negotiation process.”
He then issued a key issue: “If the UK position is Iran’s ‘zero enrichment’, there is nothing left to discuss the nuclear issue as the remaining JCPOA participants in the NPT and UK commitments. ”
This solid stance from Tehran follows Ambassador Mandelson’s comments at the Atlantic Council event in Washington, DC, which was released Tuesday.
British envoys have launched a series of unfounded claims against Iran’s nuclear program. Labeling Iran as “vulnerable” and claiming its enrichment facility could produce nuclear bombs, he reflected the weary rhetoric of Western enemies trying to undermine Iran.
Mandelson argued that the UK is strongly supportive of the (US) president’s initiative in negotiating these enrichment and related facilities in Iran, and that the UK cannot “accept” that Iran has an enrichment facility that can produce nuclear material.
He also pointed to the potential use of the “snapback” mechanism of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by European powers.
Iran and the United States have been holding five rounds of indirect nuclear talks starting in April.
Araghchi’s statement highlights Iran’s longstanding complaints about the position adopted by the UK and its E3 partners (France, Germany and the UK itself) regarding the JCPOA.
Iran has consistently demonstrated its willingness to engage with E3 through 2024 and 2025, involving officials like Deputy Minister Kazem Galibabadi, but believes Tehran is fundamentally wasting its European approach.
Iran has argued that the UK-led E3 has failed to support the JCPOA obligations since the US withdrew from the agreement under President Trump’s first term in 2018.
Instead of protecting Iran from US sanctions, as promised, European powers have reinstated their own sanctions and imposed additional forced economic measures.
Furthermore, European powers have consistently criticised Iran’s necessary and legitimate remedies taken in response to the US withdrawal and European non-compliance, overlooking the root causes of escalation.
Analysts have noticed that the UK and Europe are quite sidelined in the current indirect nuclear negotiations, which are primarily between Iran and the US.
This alienation suggests fuelling the type of rhetoric shown by Ambassador Mandelson, and could represent London’s attempts to reassert or shake up influence in consultation with the sensitive US.
Iran’s position remains clear. States own non-transferable sovereignty under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in order to pursue nuclear enrichment exclusively for peaceful and civilian purposes. This right has been consistently reaffirmed by Iranian leadership.
Ayatollah Seiyed Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, recently dismissed external demands on enrichment as “absolutely wrong,” emphasising that Iran does not need external permission to carry out peaceful nuclear activities.