Iran warns Europe snapback would trigger ‘armed negotiations’
A senior Iranian diplomat warned Europe that triggering the UN’s “snapback” mechanism to restore sanctions would squander its leverage and harden Tehran’s nuclear stance.
A senior Iranian diplomat warned Europe that triggering the UN’s “snapback” mechanism to restore sanctions would squander its leverage and harden Tehran’s nuclear stance.
Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Thursday that Europe had no right to reimpose lapsed sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Such an action would only waste Europe’s last card and further diminish its credibility as a mediator,” he said.
He warned that any future talks on Iran’s nuclear program would be “armed negotiations.” “If we return to negotiations, it will be an armed negotiation. We will all have our fingers on the trigger, because we do not trust the other side,” he said.
Khatibzadeh rejected again US demands for “zero enrichment.” “Iran will not be treated as an exception to international law. The right to enrichment is non-negotiable, although the level and details can be discussed,” he said.
Tehran insists it will resist pressure and has warned that activating snapback sanctions could push it to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Britain, France and Germany — the so-called E3 — have warned Iran that unless it returns to nuclear talks by the end of August, they will trigger the mechanism that could reimpose all UN sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal.
Tehran has accused Washington of seeking through diplomacy what it failed to achieve with June’s military strikes, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying this week that talks with the United States have not yet reached a “mature stage.”
Israel’s June 13 offensive and subsequent US strikes on Esfahan, Fordow and Natanz ended oversight of Iran’s facilities, though Araghchi said limited cooperation with the IAEA will continue under tighter national controls.
He warned that UN snapback sanctions could return, but said Iran is coordinating with Russia and China on countermeasures.
Iran said Friday that Araghchi would hold a telephone conference call with his French, German and British counterparts.Parallel to planned call, International Atomic Energy Agency officials are due to meet Iranian counterparts in Vienna.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said Shamkhani, son of former national security chief Ali Shamkhani, had “facilitated and provided support to hostile activity by the Government of Iran, namely activity which is intended to cause the destabilization of the United Kingdom or any other country including Israel and Ukraine.”
"Iran’s reliance on revenues from trading networks and connected organisations enables it to carry out its destabilising activities, including supporting proxies and partners across the region and facilitating state threats on UK soil," read a statement. "Disrupting Iran’s malign influence and keeping the British people safe remains our number one priority."
Shamkhani, listed under multiple aliases including “Hector,” was among five new entries added to the UK Sanctions List, which freezes their assets and bars UK nationals and firms from doing business with them.
The companies designated were Admiral Shipping Group, Milavous Group, Ocean Leonid Investments, and Iran’s Petrochemical Commercial Company. Britain said some of the firms were acting on behalf of Shamkhani and had provided logistical and financial support for Iran’s destabilizing activities abroad.
The measures come weeks after Washington announced its largest Iran-related sanctions package since 2018, targeting what it described as Shamkhani’s “global shipping empire” that moved Iranian and Russian oil, generating billions of dollars.
The US Treasury accused the Shamkhani family of leveraging political influence to evade sanctions, using false identities, shell companies, and frequent vessel reflagging to conceal ownership.
“The Shamkhani family’s shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime’s dangerous behavior,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time.
Ali Shamkhani, a former defense minister and longtime secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was sanctioned by the United States in 2020. He remains a senior adviser to Khamenei.
