Iran has reacted furiously following the revival of “illegal” UN sanctions a decade after the landmark 2015 nuclear deal was first signed, slamming the E3 European powers for betraying the agreements terms.
Tehran issued a strong statement on Sunday after the UK, France, and Germany triggered the snap-back mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
This move reinstated sanctions on Iran for the first time in a decade, after the European powers accused Tehran of failing to uphold its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry described the decision as “legally baseless and unjustifiable,” stressing that it was “entirely unacceptable from moral and logical standpoints.”
The ministry added: “The Islamic Republic of Iran will vigorously defend its national rights and interests, and any move intended to harm the Iranian people will be met with an appropriate and decisive response.”
The sanctions, which cover dealings related to Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, are expected to have wider repercussions for Iran’s economy.
The anti-Iran sanctions were originally lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and world powers, including the United States in 2015, but now return following accusations of Iranian non-compliance.
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Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, rejecting the validity of the European move.
He argued that the E3 — the UK, France, and Germany — had “breached their obligations” under both the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, and therefore “lost any standing” to invoke claims of “significant non-performance.”
Araghchi described the snap-back decision as a “stark abuse of process” and said it was “legally and procedurally flawed and therefore null and void.” He accused the European powers of ignoring their responsibilities to uphold the deal while rushing to reimpose punitive measures.
The minister also criticised the failure to exhaust the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, which is designed to resolve disagreements within the framework of the nuclear deal.
He said this was particularly relevant in light of Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, which he argued had “fundamentally altered the circumstances” surrounding the agreement. According to Araghchi, those attacks rendered the terminated UN resolutions obsolete and detached from present realities.
Despite international criticism, the E3 pressed ahead with the snap-back mechanism, insisting that Iran’s nuclear activities had violated its obligations.
Implications and Iran’s response
The return of sanctions will cause major economic and financial turmoil inside Iran. Iran’s currency hit a record low on Sunday, trading at 105,000 tomans (1,050,000 rials) per U.S. dollar in Tehran’s informal market.
Sanctions have also made it harder for Iran to conduct international trade with companies and banks refusing to risk being penalised for trading with Iran.
Iran has also threatened that a return to sanctions will convince Tehran to abandon all relations with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which inspects nuclear sites for atomic weapons activity and possibly even pulling out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty altogether.
The suspension of IAEA inspections began following the U.S./Israeli bombings on Iran in June, 2025, but the agency confirmed on Friday that they had resumed.
In the past when Iran and the West have been at odds, Iranians have fallen back on a self-described “resistance economy” which prioritises internal Iranian businesses and industry to prop up the nation amid crippling sanctions. However, despite Iran’s internal strength to resist global sanctions, shortages still cause major hardships for ordinary Iranians.
