Iran’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement underlining that, with the expiration on 18 October of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran’s nuclear programme must now be treated like that of any other non-nuclear-weapon state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
From this point onward, Iran is bound solely by its rights and obligations under the NPT, with no additional limitations either imposed or recognised, it noted.
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Iran’s nuclear programme had been under massive sanctions since 1979, imposed by the US and Europe, and later also by the UN, because of allegations that it was developing a nuclear weapons programme. Sanctions were lifted in 2015 when Iran signed the JCPOA, endorsed by Resolution 2231, with the P5+1 group of countries (the US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany), under which Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear development programme and allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of its nuclear facilities.
However, the US withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, reimposing its unilateral sanctions, which the European states tacitly supported. After a year of fruitless negotiations, Iran, in turn, began to ramp up its nuclear programme again. After more years of unsuccessful negotiations, in June this year, Israel and the US launched military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as a result of which Iran cut its ties with the IAEA, ending all inspections, which had been ongoing.
In the run up to the expiry of the JCPOA, the UK, France and Germany (E3) initiated a sanction snapback provision in the treaty to reimpose UN sanctions on the grounds that Iran had rejected E3 demands that it reinstate IAEA inspections. Although Russia and China opposed this action, the UN sanctions were formally reimposed.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry statement highlighted that the original rationale for placing Iran’s nuclear issue on the UN Security Council’s agenda, namely verifying the peaceful nature of its related programme, has been fully achieved. This was supported by the fact that no report by the IAEA has indicated any diversion of Iran’s nuclear activities towards military purposes, despite political pressure from the US and its European allies.
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By GlobalDataThe statement stressed that Iran had consistently adhered to its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA despite facing harsh sanctions, whereas the Western states repeatedly violated their obligations.
“Iran pursued transparency and compliance, but the US’s irresponsible withdrawal in 2018 and the European trio (the UK, France and Germany)’s failure to uphold their commitments dealt a major blow to multilateral diplomacy,” the ministry said.
“Iran considers the confrontational measures by Germany, the UK and France – persistent violators of the JCPOA who acted in bad faith and without following the required legal procedures to revive cancelled Security Council resolutions – as devoid of any legal, procedural, or executive validity. The UN Security Council Secretariat is not authorised to endorse or recognise such illegal actions.”
The statement called on the UN Secretary-General “to immediately correct the false information posted on the United Nations website concerning the alleged ‘reinstatement’ of terminated resolutions against Iran and to prevent further confusion in the Council’s legal and procedural processes. Iran also deems any re-establishment of Security Council sanctions mechanisms, including the Sanctions Committee and the Panel of Experts, as illegal, and expects the Secretariat to promptly remove all such claims from the Security Council’s website.”
The ministry said: “This is particularly necessary given the fundamental ambiguity surrounding the purpose, validity and termination mechanisms of the now-defunct resolutions. All UN member states are expected… to refrain from granting any legal or practical effect to the claims of the three European countries and the United States regarding the reimposition of previously terminated resolutions.”
The statement concluded: “The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its unwavering commitment to diplomacy while firmly insisting on the legitimate rights and lawful interests of the Iranian nation in all fields, including its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
The same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Vassily Nebenzia, reaffirmed Tehran’s position that Resolution 2231 has “definitively expired and terminated” in accordance with its own provisions.
The letter, which made the same points as the Foreign Ministry statement, also noted that “resolution 2231 confers no authority whatsoever upon the Secretary-General or the Secretariat to determine, declare, reapply, or reintroduce resolutions that have been terminated”. It added: “Any such act would be ultra vires – beyond the powers conferred by the Charter and resolution 2231 – and would contradict the Secretariat’s strictly administrative and impartial role under the Charter.
“The Secretariat is not a decision-making or interpretive body; it cannot alter or extend the legal effects of Security Council decisions, nor bind member states by unilateral pronouncements. Any ‘notification’ or ‘confirmation’ by the Secretariat implying otherwise would be legally invalid and would undermine the institutional credibility of the United Nations.”
Iran, Russia and China have also jointly sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council, emphasising the termination of Resolution 2231 on Iran’s nuclear programme, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi. Speaking on state television, Gharibabadi said Iran had engaged in extensive diplomatic efforts as Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 JCPOA, was set to expire.
He noted that the joint letter from Iran, Russia and China reiterated that the resolution has expired and that nations have no commitments to defunct Security Council sanctions. He added that with the termination of Resolution 2231, periodic reports on Iran’s nuclear commitments by the IAEA director-general will also cease.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that with the expiry of Resolution 2231, the UN Security Council must close the file on Iran’s nuclear issue and remove it from the non-proliferation agenda.
Moscow criticised the E3 for their attempt to revive previous UN sanctions against Iran, calling it a blatant breach of Resolution 2231 and the procedures meant to prevent manipulation. “Their efforts have failed,” the ministry said.
The ministry said it had formally demanded that the UN Secretary-General withdraw “false information” posted on the organisation’s website regarding the alleged reimposition of sanctions. “The refusal of the UN leadership to correct this error would mean that the Secretary-General and Secretariat staff are acting in deliberate violation of Article 100 of the UN Charter.”
With the expiration of Resolution 2231, Moscow said the 2015 nuclear deal “will finally pass into history”, although it credited the deal as “a major diplomatic achievement” that had allowed the IAEA to resolve all outstanding questions about Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities. “The successful implementation of the JCPOA was intended to enable Tehran to fully exercise its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” the ministry said.
Russia affirmed that oversight of Iran’s nuclear programme will be conducted solely under the NPT and the Iran-IAEA safeguards agreement.
The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, told a press conference any future reports on Iran by IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi will no longer have any impact. “Grossi has done his work, and his reports will no longer have any effect,” he said.
