Iran Warns European Powers: Triggering ‘Snapback’ Will Mean “Losing Everything”
Iran has warned the UK, France, and Germany against invoking the snapback mechanism under the nuclear deal, calling it illegal and threatening to withdraw from key international agreements.
Iran warned that the E3 risk “losing everything” if they move to restore UN sanctions under the JCPOA. Photo: @TehranTimes79
September 14, 2025 Hour: 6:58 am
Iran has warned the United Kingdom, France, and Germany that any attempt to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 nuclear deal would carry irreversible consequences and lacks legal or political basis.
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Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi issued the warning Saturday in a post on X, criticizing the E3’s move to restore UN sanctions against Tehran. “Not only do the E3 have no legal, political, or moral right to invoke ‘snapback,’ but even if they did, the idea of ‘use it or lose it’ does not apply,” Araqchi said. “The correct way to describe the E3’s dilemma is: use it and lose it, or better yet, use it and lose everything.”
Araqchi stressed that such a step would leave the European states with no leverage and warned that Iran would respond with “fundamental retaliatory measures.” These could include ending a recent agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to resume cooperation, or even withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Iran has denounced the E3’s attempt as illegal and unjustified, pointing to their failure to meet obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) following the US withdrawal from the deal in May 2018. Together with Russia and China, Tehran argues that the Europeans have no grounds to use the mechanism after reimposing sanctions that the agreement was designed to lift.
The ‘Snapback’ Mechanism
The snapback clause was established in UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA between Iran and the P5+1. It allows any participant to initiate the reimposition of all UN sanctions lifted under the deal if Iran is deemed to be in “significant non-performance” of its commitments.
Reinstated measures would include wide-ranging restrictions: bans on arms transfers and nuclear-related equipment, limits on uranium enrichment, banking restrictions, asset freezes, and international travel bans.
Tehran maintains that invoking the mechanism would undermine the JCPOA entirely and escalate tensions, leaving the E3 with no remaining influence over Iran’s nuclear program.
Author: MK
Source: HispanTV
