Iran tells E3 it may leave nuclear treaty if sanctions return
Iran has told European powers it may withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if UN sanctions are reimposed, Western diplomats told Iran International after last week’s talks in Istanbul.
The message was conveyed during a closed-door meeting last week between Iranian officials and representatives from France, Germany and Britain, known collectively as the E3. The session marked the first formal nuclear discussions since last month’s Israeli and US strikes on Iranian territory.
According to one diplomat present at the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi said any withdrawal from the treaty should not be interpreted as a step toward building nuclear weapons.
Officials expect sanctions to return
A separate source inside President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government told Iran International that senior Iranian officials have concluded that snapback sanctions under UN Security Council Resolution 2231 are likely and that Tehran must be ready to respond.
Under the 2015 nuclear deal, the snapback mechanism allows a participant to reimpose UN sanctions if Iran is found to be in serious non-compliance. France has recently warned that it will push for global embargoes unless a broader agreement is reached by late August.
Tehran rejects European authority on sanctions
Iran has rejected the legitimacy of any attempt by the E3 to invoke the snapback clause. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said earlier this week that Britain, France and Germany have no legal standing to trigger the measure and had “marginalized themselves” through their support for Israel and the United States during recent military action.
Baghaei also said Tehran remains opposed to extending Resolution 2231 beyond its scheduled expiration in October.
Talks confined to nuclear file, Iran says
Iranian officials insist that the Istanbul talks were limited to nuclear and sanctions-related issues. Baghaei said no other topics were raised and warned that any attempt to expand the agenda would not be accepted.
“These talks have a clear and limited focus: the lifting of sanctions and matters related to the nuclear program,” he said during his weekly press briefing.
A website tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Thursday urged parliament to ban the import of dogs, cats and pet supplies, amid growing pressure to restrict pet ownership on religious and cultural grounds.
“If you truly represent the people, protect public rights, especially those of innocent children, and submit a bill to ban all imports of dogs, cats and pet supplies,” Fars News wrote.
The appeal came after the government lifted restrictions on registering import orders for previously banned goods from Eurasian Economic Union countries. The directive, issued by the Trade Promotion Organization, included pet-related items not covered by religious or legal bans.
Fars News criticized the move, saying it contradicted existing dog walking bans and burdened municipalities that already struggle to manage stray animals.
Local crackdowns intensify
Iranian prosecutors have expanded dog walking bans to at least 25 cities, including Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamadan, Kerman and Isfahan. The measures are being enforced under local orders citing Iran’s Penal Code and Constitution as no national legislation has been passed.
Officials have cited Article 638 of the Penal Code, which addresses acts against public morality, and Article 688, which concerns threats to public health. They have also invoked Article 40 of the Constitution, which bars activities that harm others.
Prosecutors in several provinces announced new bans in recent days, reinforcing earlier restrictions first imposed in Tehran in 2019.
“Offenders will face legal action to preserve public decency,” he said, adding that pet ownership reflected “foreign cultural influence.”
Authorities in Ilam, Khalkhal, and other cities have issued similar orders, citing constitutional and penal code provisions relating to public health and morality.
“This practice reflects the promotion of a Western lifestyle,” Khalkhal prosecutor Mozaffar Rezaei said, warning of penalties for transporting or walking dogs in public spaces.
Iran will not return to nuclear negotiations unless the United States agrees to provide compensation for damages sustained during last month’s war, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times.
"They should explain why they attacked us in the middle of... negotiations, and they have to ensure that they are not going to repeat that," Araghchi said in an interview published on Thursday.
The official added that the US must take responsibility for striking Iran during ongoing diplomatic exchanges and that talks cannot resume without financial redress.
Iran confirms new enrichment plant near Isfahan was hit
A third enrichment facility near Isfahan was struck during last month’s conflict, Araghchi told FT, marking the first time Tehran has publicly acknowledged the site was targeted.
Araghchi said the plant had been prepared for activation in response to a formal censure by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, which criticized Iran’s lack of cooperation.
“As far as I know, the preparations were made, but it was not active when it was attacked,” he said.
The site was hit as part of a broader US operation that, two days before a ceasefire, targeted Iran’s main enrichment centers at Fordow and Natanz and struck multiple facilities in Isfahan.
‘Road to negotiation is narrow’
Araghchi said he has been in contact with US envoy Steve Witkoff and that the two sides have exchanged messages before, during and after the war. He described the path to talks as narrow but not closed.
“I need to convince my hierarchy that if we go for negotiation, the other side is coming with real determination for a win-win deal,” he said. But he added that Tehran requires confidence-building measures before proceeding, including financial compensation and security assurances.
Araghchi repeated Iran’s rejection of US demands for “zero enrichment” and said Tehran would not abandon its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He said Iran still retains the knowledge and technical capability to resume high-level enrichment if needed.
Talks with IAEA expected next month
Though Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after the war, Araghchi said Tehran expects to hold technical talks with the agency in the coming weeks to discuss a “new modality of cooperation.” He said the talks would not involve inspections.
Western officials say Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was heavily damaged but not eliminated, and that a significant stockpile of highly enriched uranium may remain.
Warning to Europe over snapback
Araghchi also warned the UK, France and Germany that any move to trigger the UN snapback mechanism, which would restore sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal, would end Iran’s talks with them.
“If they do snapback, that means that this is the end of the road for them,” he said. “With the Europeans, there is no reason right now to negotiate because they cannot lift sanctions, they cannot do anything.”
The US said it remains open to direct talks with Iran but reaffirmed its maximum pressure strategy this week by announcing new sanctions on an Iranian oil shipping network.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday issued a cryptic warning to Israel that the geography of Tehran's response to any future attack would shift and its arch-foe would face a punishing response.
"The geography of the response and the battlefield may change, and Iran's reactions will be more crushing than previously observed," state media outlet Mehr news cited the spokesman of the sprawling military organization as saying.
“If the Zionist regime launches a new attack on the powerful and resilient Iran, the initiative to end the conflict will be in our hands,’ Ali Mohammad Naeini said.
Israel's surprise 12-day military campaign against Iran last month killed hundreds of military personnel and civilians in air strikes and drone attacks. Missile salvos by Iran killed 28 Israeli civilians.
Iranian military leaders had made similar threats against Israel before the conflict, and official declarations of victory following the war have yet to substantively grapple with the lopsided toll and Tehran's intelligence lapses.
“We will not allow the sirens in the occupied territories to fall silent, and the enemy must not have the opportunity to leave its shelters,” Naeini said. “They will experience more fleeing and displacement than they did during the 12-day war.”
Iran's armed allies in the region have been degraded by nearly two years of Israeli attacks, but an Emirati news outlet reported on Wednesday that a top IRGC general traveled to Iraq to shore up support for Tehran-backed militias there.
Citing Iraqi political sources close to the Shi'ite-run political establishment, al-Ain al-Ekhbariya reported that the commander of the IRGC's elite Quds Force Esmail Qaani made an unannounced visit to Iran's neighbor.
The visit, the outlet said, involved meetings with senior Shi'ite political and militia leaders and aimed at shoring up unity and coordination as parliamentary elections loom.
Mysterious attacks hit Western-run oil facilities in Iraq's Kurdish region this month, in strikes blamed by local officials on Iran-backed militias. The sources cited by al-Ain al-Ekhbariya alleged Qaani described the events as not authorized by Tehran.
Following a US-brokered ceasefire on June 25, Israel and Iran have repeatedly exchanged threats.
Israel 'wiped off the face of the earth'
Iran’s interim chief of staff, Habibollah Sayyari, praised the Islamic Republic’s wartime performance on Wednesday, saying the conflict extended beyond just Israel.
“People must understand that we did not fight just one regime, we fought the world. That means we fought NATO, Europe and the United States. This is very important, yet we emerged from it with our heads held high,” Sayyari said.
Former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei added to the uptick of official military rhetoric on Wednesday, threatening to eradicate Israel.
“A day will come when great revenge and severe punishment will be carried out, and Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth forever,” Rezaei said on Wednesday.
A British couple held in solitary confinement in Iran since January on espionage charges was beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with execution, a source familiar with the matter told Iran International.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman were recently moved to the Gharchak Women’s Prison and the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, added the source familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity citing security concerns.
The couple had been held by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence for the past seven months.
According to the source, the couple were subjected to torture including sleep depravation, beating and threats of execution by security agents seeking to extract confessions but have maintained their innocence.
The couple, both in their 50s, entered Iran from Armenia during a motorcycle world tour. After visiting Tabriz, Tehran and Isfahan, they planned to travel to Kerman.
On January 4, 2025, they were arrested on their way to city of Kerman and charged with spying. Britain has rejected the charges and demanded their release.
The UK foreign office said the couple was receiving consular assistance in response to a request for comment by Iran International.
“We are deeply concerned by reports that two British nationals have been charged with espionage in Iran. We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities," it said in a statement.
“We are providing them with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members.”
Iran has long detained and convicted foreign nationals in a bid for to gain financial or political concessions from foreign powers.
Tehran has consistently denied that the detentions are politically motivated.
Iran is one of the most aggressive state actors targeting individuals in the United Kingdom through transnational repression, according to a new parliamentary report.
The inquiry alleged Tehran’s intelligence services have orchestrated dozens of operations to surveil, intimidate, or physically harm UK-based dissidents, journalists, and other perceived critics.
Security agencies have investigated more than 20 credible threats to life linked to Iran since 2022.
“Iran represents one of the highest kidnap and assassination state threats to the UK, with the Homeland Security Group describing the threat of physical attack on individuals in the UK as the greatest level of threat we currently face from Iran,” according to the report released this week.
The tactics include assassination plots, stalking, digital hacking, threats to family members, online abuse, and coordinated smear campaigns.
One key target has been Iran International, a London-based Persian-language broadcaster.
British interior minister Yvette Cooper said in May that Iran posed an "unacceptable threat" to domestic security after authorities charged three Iranian nationals under a national security law following a major counter-terrorism investigation.
Three of the Iranian nationals were later charged with offences under the National Security Act, accused of acting on behalf of Iran’s intelligence service and carried out surveillance targeting Iran International journalists.
Broader strategy of coercion
The report warns of a broader strategy of coercion extending beyond direct threats. Iranian-linked cultural and religious centers in the UK are allegedly being used to gather intelligence on the Iranian diaspora and promote the interests of Tehran.
Kasra Aarabi, director of research on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at US-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), points to what he calls a state-run infiltration network.
"Charities, mosques, academic institutions and cultural centers consistently carried out IRGC-linked activities on its premises,” including direct contact with some of “the most radical and extremist commanders of the IRGC.”
“The failure to address this issue is putting the UK’s national security and British lives at risk,” he told Iran International.
Journalists and women most targeted
Journalists covering Iran remain especially vulnerable, with Iran International and BBC Persian staff facing asset freezes, defamation campaigns, and threats to their families still living in Iran.
The Islamic Republic’s targeting of journalists reflects its fear of independent reporting, UK Director of Reporters Without Borders Fiona O’Brien told Iran International.
“If you're going to go to that length to try and shut something down, to try and silence people ... you must feel very threatened by that kind of information,” she said.
Female journalists reporting on protests and human rights violations have been targeted with gendered abuse, including threats of sexual violence.
The inquiry also highlights the regime’s evolving tactics, including AI-generated deepfake pornography, doctored images, and fabricated narratives used to discredit and silence.
"Impacts extend far beyond those directly targeted, creating a broader ‘chilling effect’ on entire communities and undermining fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, and association,” the committee said.
Intelligence resources stretched
The fear can be used as a method to overwhelm a country’s security apparatus.
Dr. Omid Shams, a UK-based human rights lawyer of Iranian origin, said the Islamic Republic has shifted from high-level, sophisticated operations to more chaotic, diffuse strategies that are harder for security agencies to detect.
Rather than relying solely on trained agents, Tehran increasingly uses local criminal gangs and petty criminals to carry out lower-level attacks.
“The goal,” Shams said, “is to stretch intelligence resources so thin that authorities are forced to either limit dissidents’ activities or negotiate indirectly with Iran to reduce pressure.”
UK policy still catching up
Despite the scope of the threat, the UK government has yet to formally define transnational repression in law or develop a strategy for addressing it, according to the committee, which urged the government to create a legal definition, train police, support victims, and systematically track these incidents.
Iran — alongside Russia — has been placed under the “enhanced tier” of the UK’s Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, requiring those acting on Tehran’s behalf to declare their activities. The report also calls for coordinated international pressure through the United Nations and INTERPOL.
