Abbas Araghchi says despite \u2018snapback\u2019 sanctions process, Iran is open to a \u2018realistic and lasting bargain\u2019.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused Britain, France and Germany of pursuing a \u201creckless\u201d strategy on his country\u2019s nuclear programme, warning that their alignment with Washington will only diminish Europe\u2019s global standing.<\/p>\n
Writing in The Guardian<\/a> on Sunday, Araghchi said the decision by the so-called E3 to trigger a process that could reinstate United Nations sanctions \u201clacks any legal standing\u201d and is bound to fail.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is that they are intently pursuing a reckless course of action \u2026 This is a grave miscalculation that is bound to backfire,\u201d Araghchi wrote.<\/p>\n In August, Germany, France and the United Kingdom \u2013 Europe\u2019s largest economies \u2013 triggered a 30-day process to activate \u201csnapback\u201d sanctions over what they called \u201csignificant\u201d violations of a 2015 agreement to limit Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n The United States, which bombed three nuclear facilities in June as part of an Israeli assault<\/a> on Iran, has welcomed the European countries\u2019 move.<\/p>\n Araghchi accused the three powers of ignoring the fact that it was the US, not Iran, that withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). While Tehran took what he described as \u201clawful remedial measures\u201d under the accord, the E3 failed to uphold their own obligations.<\/p>\n Araghchi noted that European leaders once pledged to protect trade with Iran after US President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions in 2018. \u201cNone of it materialised,\u201d he wrote, adding that Europe\u2019s promises of \u201cstrategic autonomy\u201d collapsed under US pressure.<\/p>\n Instead, he argued, Europe has acted as a bystander, cheering Washington\u2019s aggressive approach. \u201cOpenly cheerleading illegal military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities protected by international law \u2013 as Germany\u2019s chancellor has done \u2013 does not constitute \u2018participation’\u201d in the deal, he wrote.<\/p>\n German Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a> suggested in June that the West is benefitting from the Israeli assault against Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us,\u201d\u00a0he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Araghchi stressed in his Guardian column that Tehran remains open to dialogue. \u201c[Iran] is ready to forge a realistic and lasting bargain that entails ironclad oversight and curbs on enrichment in exchange for the termination of sanctions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He cautioned that ignoring this chance could plunge the region into deeper instability, especially amid escalating tensions with Israel. \u201cThe powerful armed forces of Iran are ready and able to once again pummel Israel into running to \u2018daddy\u2019 to be bailed out,\u201d Araghchi warned, arguing that Israeli provocations risk dragging the US into costly conflicts.<\/p>\n The Trump administration had also claimed that the door remains open for talks with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States remains available for direct engagement with Iran \u2013 in furtherance of a peaceful, enduring resolution to the Iran nuclear issue,\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement following the E3 announcement on sanctions last month.<\/p>\n \u201cSnapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy, it only enhances it.\u201d<\/p>\n