Europe tells US it will trigger UN snapback on Iran - Axios

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will stand alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping during the September 3 event, which marks the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will also attend, the ministry said.

China said 26 heads of state and government will participate in the parade, including leaders from Belarus, Serbia, Indonesia, and Slovakia. The only EU leader attending will be Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, according to the ministry.

The parade will feature tens of thousands of Chinese troops and advanced weapons systems on display at Tiananmen Square, including hypersonic missiles, fighter jets and air defense platforms.

UN Under-Secretary-General Li Junhua will represent the United Nations at the event, which Beijing has framed as a show of international solidarity with the Global South.

Iran’s attendance comes months after President Pezeshkian was notably absent from Russia’s Victory Day parade in May, despite Tehran’s deepening military and diplomatic ties with Moscow.

The lack of visible representation led to domestic debate in Iran over the optics of its relationship with Russia.

Hardline propagandist Mohammad Hassan Rajabi Davani, in a state TV appearance that subsequently went viral, likened former President Hassan Rouhani and former top nuclear negotiator Mohammad-Javad Zarif to two historical figures who betrayed early leaders of imams of the Shi'ite community.

The anchor in the televised segmented added his own criticisms. Deemed by some observers as potentially life-threatening, the incendiary remarks were met with swift criticism.

Reformist groups issued a manifesto last week calling for direct talks with Washington and suspension of uranium enrichment to defuse a nuclear standoff, while Rouhani and Zarif have also publicly urged diplomacy.

"Radicalism is contagious and can spread from one political front to another," Conservative commentator Nasser Imani said.

Two conservative dailies harshly criticized state television for the segement.

"While Israel believes its war against Iran is ongoing and seeks to exploit internal discord to bring Iranians into the streets and facilitate societal collapse, leveling accusations against political figures is tantamount to playing into Israel’s hands," the Farhikhtegan newspaper wrote.

“Not only do the accusations against the two politicians fail to reduce radicalism in Iran, but they are like pouring gasoline on fire,” it added. "Polarization will not remain confined to the political sphere. It will deal blows to society and undermine the spontaneous solidarity that emerged following Israeli attacks."

Meanwhile, Massih Mohajeri, managing editor of the conservative daily Jomhouri Eslami, wrote in an editorial: "Suspicious individuals have infiltrated state television. They sow new discord daily and seek to destroy the nation’s sense of sympathy and solidarity."

"Purging state television is more essential than ever," Mohajeri, a long-standing critic of the state broadcaster, said. "Willingly or otherwise, the broadcaster’s programming and approach are likely to bring Iran’s social foundations to the verge of collapse by leveling accusations against various individuals and the government.”

According to Khabar Online, Davani appeared keen to turn the page on the controversy by moving onto a new one in his latest appearance on state TV.

“It is currently being said among the people that Iran should move toward making a nuclear bomb, Davani said. "There is a demand among the people for making a nuclear bomb, and people in the world say Iran has a right to make it.”

Kazem Gharibabadi added that France, Germany and the United Kingdom are not authorized to invoke provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 nuclear deal, since they are no longer active participants in the agreement.

“"If the snapback mechanism is activated, the current path with the IAEA will be affected and halted,” Gharibabadi told official Iranian media on Wednesday.

Iran said this week that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency had re-entered the country after being barred amid a 12-day war with Israel in June. No agreement has yet been reached on the resumption of their work, however.

The European troika dubbed the E3 are likely to begin a process to trigger the so-called snapback of international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program after talks on Tuesday with Tehran yielded little progress, Reuters reported citing sources.

The move could come as early as Thursday, four diplomats cited by Reuters said, but the countries hope Iran will make diplomatic concessions within the next 30 days.

“We told them, if you’re truly implementing the JCPOA, provide a report showing how. The indicators and information we have contradict their claim," Gharibabadi added. "Not only has Europe failed to implement the JCPOA, but new sanctions have been imposed over the years, the latest being only a few months ago against Iran’s shipping and aviation industries.”

The snapback mechanism, part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 which endorsed the deal, allows any party to the accord to file a complaint accusing Iran of non-compliance.

If no resolution is reached within 30 days, all previous UN sanctions would automatically be reimposed, including arms embargoes, cargo inspections and missile restrictions.

The three European countries have warned Iran they will restore UN measures unless talks resume and produce results by the end of August.

Agency inspectors at Bushehr

Gharibabadi also responded to domestic criticism over the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in Iran, saying their access was necessary in the case of a nuclear power plant.

“Without IAEA inspectors in Iran, the Bushehr power plant’s operations would be disrupted. Do some really want our Bushehr plant shut down? The return of IAEA inspectors to facilities is a specific case, conducted with necessary coordination and approvals,” Gharibabadi said.

The Bushehr facility, which uses nuclear fuel supplied by Russia’s Rosatom, requires IAEA monitoring for re-fueling with low-enriched uranium.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi indicated there is no way for Iran to cut off all relations with the IAEA.

“In about a month, it’s time to replace the fuel at the Bushehr power plant, and this must be done in the presence of Agency inspectors,” Araghchi said last week.

In response to the United States’ June 22 attacks against three nuclear sites in Iran, parliament passed a law restricting cooperation with the IAEA.

Since then, Iran and the three European countries have held two rounds of negotiations, one in Istanbul in July and another in Geneva on August 26, but no concrete progress was announced.

Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador to the country after it accused Tehran of backing attacks on Jewish targets in the country, including arson on a synagogue, in a separate case involving other suspects..

Australia said Iran guided arson attacks on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne December 2024 and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney last year.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said it had traced funding to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran has denied the allegations.

Detailed communications among the alleged perpetrators show the ringleader of the attack on the restaurant was a man named Sayed Moosawi, according to the documents cited by the newspaper.

Moosawi, it added, recruited another individual, Wayne Ogden, to plan an attack on the Curly Lewis Brewery — a site with no apparent connection to the Jewish community or faith.

Ogden, together with another suspect Joun Amoui, drove to the brewery wearing masks and rubber gloves one of them armed with a sledgehammer. However, Signal messages indicate that Amoui panicked and fled the scene when spotted by a member of the public.

Moosawi, who referred to himself as “James Bond” in the messages, reacted furiously, cursing at the two and berating them for their ineptitude.

The pair later regrouped with two new accomplices, Guy Finnegan and Craig Banfoft, in a renewed attempt to torch the brewery. That arson attempt failed as well, with sprinklers extinguishing the fire and limiting damage.

In subsequent messages, one of the accomplices even joked that the group might be targeting the wrong site. Eventually, in October 2024, the team succeeded in setting fire to the Curly Lewis Brewery’s kitchen, causing extensive damage.

According to court evidence, Moosawi allegedly paid $12,000 in total and offered $4,000 to the two accomplices to complete the attack. He has a prior criminal record and arrived in Australia in 2005 with his family on refugee status.

The prime minister said the government’s actions sent a clear message that foreign-directed aggression on Australian soil would not be tolerated.

The trio dubbed the E3 is due to initiate the sanctions as early as Thursday, four diplomats cited by Reuters said, but hopes Iran will make diplomatic concessions within the next 30 days.

The snapback mechanism, part of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 — which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — allows any party to the accord to file a complaint accusing Iran of non-compliance.

If no resolution is reached within 30 days, all previous UN sanctions would automatically resume and would include arms embargoes, cargo inspections and missile restrictions.

A round of nuclear talks involving Iran and France, Germany and the United Kingdom concluded in Geneva on Tuesday, with tangible progress announced.

Deputy foreign ministers from the four countries took part in the meetings which followed a previous round held in Istanbul in July.

The European powers have pressed Iran to resume talks with the United States and cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.

Both were put on hold amid a 12-day war launched by Israel on Iran which was capped off with US strikes on three key Iranian nuclear sites.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons but Israel and Western powers doubt its intentions.

Triggering the UN sanctions is likely to lead to complex, fast-paced diplomacy.

“There will be intense negotiation, diplomats say, over the form of that resolution. Among the questions are: will 2231 be extended and for how long, and will snapback clearly be allowed at a later date,” Wall Street Journal reporter Laurence Norman said on X Wednesday.

“The fundamental point is if there’s snapback tomorrow (Thursday), it’s not the end of diplomacy. It’s just going to proceed for a short period under new rules of the game,” he added.

Tehran on Wednesday warned of unspecified consequences if the countries triggered the sanctions mechanism and asserted they had no right to do so.

"In Geneva, we explained to the Europeans that, for legal reasons, they have no right to use the snapback mechanism, and that if such a thing happens, it will have consequences for them," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said.

"It was agreed that contacts between Iran and the European side would continue in the coming days," he added.