Europe ‘lacks legitimacy’ to trigger UN sanctions return, Iran says

“We now want a more comprehensive agreement that would encompass both the nuclear dimension of Iranian destabilization activities, but also it's the ballistic component, as well as the regional destabilization activities,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on CBS News’ Face the Nation.

Barrot warned that Iran’s repeated violations of the 2015 nuclear accord had rendered the previous terms obsolete.

“Unless a new and robust and durable and verifiable agreement is reached by the end of the summer, France, Germany and the UK will have no other choice but to reapply the global embargoes that were lifted 10 years ago,” he said. These include bans on arms, nuclear equipment and banking.

Barrot said Paris has been in weekly contact with US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and has supported efforts to reengage Iran diplomatically since the ceasefire following last month’s war with Israel.

“We have pressed Iran, after the 12-day war, to go back to a discussion with the US,” Barrot said. “If there is no solid agreement that can be found by the end of August, we will have no other option but to snap back.”

Once activated, the mechanism would restore all UN sanctions on Iran without the possibility of veto from Russia or China.

In Tehran, senior official Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr dismissed the threat. “Even if the snapback mechanism is activated, it has no effect and we should not be concerned about it,” he said. “The new negotiation should be about why America betrayed the talks.”

Zolghadr said that renewed sanctions would be ineffective. “Given the current state of the country, new sanctions cannot create restrictions,” he said, adding that Iran had “discovered methods rendering sanctions obsolete.”

"Iran has been very nasty with their words, with their mouth. They got the hell knocked out of them, and they, I don't think they know it. I actually don't think they know," Trump told reporters on the sidelines of his meeting with the president of the European Commission.

"The whole thing's a con job. We have a lot of con jobs going on. But Iran was beaten up very badly, for good reason. We cannot have them have a nuclear weapon," he added.

On June 22, Trump ordered airstrikes against Iran's nuclear sites in Fordow, Esfahan and Natanz, capping off a surprise military campaign by Israel which killed hundreds of people, including military personnel, nuclear scientists, and civilians.

The 12-day Israeli war on Iran was launched following the 60-day deadline set by Trump for Iran to reach a deal with the West over its disputed nuclear program.

Uranium enrichment was one of the US conditions for the possible deal, but Iran has long been insisting on maintaining its enrichment program, even in the aftermath of last month’s conflict.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News earlier this week that the country will not abandon its uranium enrichment program, calling it both a scientific achievement and a matter of national pride.

“Our enrichment is so dear to us,” he said. “Obviously we cannot give up our enrichment, because it is an achievement of our own scientists and now more than that, it is a question of national pride.”

Trump on Sunday expressed surprise at Iran's insistence on enrichment after what Araghchi called "serious and severe" damage to its nuclear infrastructure.

"They still talk about enrichment. I mean, who would do that? You just come out of something that's so bad, and they talk about, we want to continue enrichment. Who would say that? How stupid can you be to say that?"

Trump vowed that his administration is "not going to allow that to happen."

Iran’s uranium enrichment program has long been a source of international tension. While Tehran maintains that the program is for peaceful purposes, the UN nuclear watchdog argues that enriching uranium to high levels of purity lacks any civilian justification.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz "agreed that unless Iran co-operated with the IAEA and returned to diplomacy, sanctions would be reinstated at the end of August," according to the British government's readout of the joint call.

The three European powers have until October to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which would restore all international sanctions on Iran lifted by the 2015 nuclear deal.

Once invoked, if the UN Security Council fails to unanimously agree within 30 days to continue waiving the sanctions, the previous UN measures will automatically be reinstated.

Negotiators from Iran and the three European powers held a fresh round of nuclear talks in Istanbul on Friday. In the meeting, Iran pushed back on an alleged proposal by Europe to extend the deadline for triggering the snapback mechanism.

Friday's talks marked the first round of nuclear negotiations following the US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Washington was not part of the talks, as Tehran has said it is not currently willing to engage in further talks with the Trump administration.

'No talks with US without guarantees'

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi said on Saturday Tehran had conveyed messages to the US via intermediaries and would not re-enter talks without firm guarantees against further attacks.

“Before a new round of talks, we must receive guarantees that we will not face similar attacks again,” Turkish outlet Haberturk quoted him as saying.

Citing Israeli and US strikes, he said more than a thousand people had been killed. “These acts must be condemned,” he said.

He confirmed discussions with the E3 are ongoing and centered on uranium enrichment and sanctions relief. “In any agreement, enrichment must be preserved. That is a key element of our position,” he said. “Sanctions must be lifted fully. This is an essential requirement.”

Takht Ravanchi rejected Western demands to limit enrichment, calling them incompatible with Iran’s rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“Zero enrichment is not acceptable. Our nuclear program is peaceful, conducted on our soil, and in line with the NPT,” he said.

No date has been set for the next E3 round, though Takht Ravanchi said Turkey remains Iran’s preferred venue.

“Ministers condemned Iran’s unjust detention of foreign nationals and raised ongoing concerns over the human rights situation in Iran,” said the joint statement by the four ministers, who met for consultations in Sydney on Friday.

It cited “the escalation of the use of the death penalty as a political tool during the 12-day conflict, and the ongoing repression of women, girls, and human rights defenders.”

Their broad remarks also covered shared policy toward many other countries.

Iran’s judiciary chief announced on Wednesday that around 2,000 people were arrested during and after the 12-day war with Israel. Some detainees, accused of collaborating with Israel, could face the death penalty.

“Some of these individuals face severe punishments, including the death penalty, while others may receive lighter sentences,” Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said in an interview with state TV.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran Mai Sato urged Tehran last month to end what they described as a “post-ceasefire crackdown.”

Australia and the UK also called on Iran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and “refrain from actions that would compromise efforts to address the security situation in the Middle East.”

Iranian deputy foreign ministers met with officials from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in Istanbul on Friday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said a senior IAEA official is expected to visit Tehran in the coming weeks to discuss a new cooperation framework.

“Ministers stated their determination that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon,” the UK-Australia joint statement added.

Gharibabadi said he and Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi led what he called “serious, frank, and detailed” discussions with Britain, France and Germany. The meeting focused on sanctions relief and the future of the 2015 nuclear deal, with both sides presenting specific proposals and agreeing to continue consultations.

“We explained our principled positions, including on the so-called snapback mechanism,” Gharibabadi wrote on X, adding that Tehran strongly criticized the E3’s stance on last month’s military strikes.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said earlier in the day that the talks were a “test of realism” for the E3 and warned against any effort to extend UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which expires in October.

Baghaei said the three powers had “no legal standing” to pursue such a move and accused them of aligning with the United States and Israel and Israel.

Iran did not reject a European offer to extend the UN resolution tied to the 2015 nuclear deal during talks in Istanbul on Friday, The Wall Street Journal’s Laurence Norman reported citing a European diplomat.

Norman said the meeting produced no breakthrough or breakdown and involved meaningful discussion as the E3 and EU offered a clear diplomatic proposal, with the European side prepared to pursue snapback sanctions but also expressed openness to an extension if Iran takes certain steps.

“There was a sense until recently that Iran seemed uninterested in any extension. Today that seems to have shifted,” Norman said on X, describing the talks as a potential turning point ahead of a decision expected by the end of August.

The Financial Times cited Western diplomats as saying that the E3 is considering offering Iran a delay in reimposing sanctions if Tehran resumes cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and engages with Washington. Without progress, the snapback could be triggered by mid-September.

Gharibabadi said a technical IAEA team will travel to Tehran in the coming weeks, but inspections of nuclear facilities are not planned. Any future cooperation, he added, will depend on Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and laws passed in response to the June strikes.