Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday denounced efforts by France, Britain, and Germany to reinstate United Nations sanctions on Tehran, declaring the move lacked “international legitimacy,” Xinhua reported, citing Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, Pezeshkian sharply criticized the European trio for triggering the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), last month.
The UN Security Council failed to adopt a resolution last week to extend sanctions relief for Iran, paving the way for the reimposition of sanctions later this month.
Pezeshkian accused the European powers of succumbing to American pressure, stating they had “failed to honor their commitments over the past decade” and were now acting “under Washington’s pressure and coercion.”
He charged that their actions were aimed at “destroying” the JCPOA, which he recalled they once praised as “the biggest achievement of multilateral diplomacy.”
The Iranian leader reiterated Tehran’s claim that it has never pursued nuclear weapons and would not do so, citing a religious decree issued by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran signed the JCPOA in 2015 with the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia, agreeing to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions, prompting Iran to reduce its compliance with the accord.
Before the recent UN Security Council vote, Iranian and European ministers engaged in a bid to avert the re-imposition of sanctions. However, diplomatic sources confirmed that these discussions yielded no breakthroughs.