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Iran, Russia, and China said the U.N. Security Council resolution supporting the 2015 nuclear deal expired on Oct. 18, 2025, arguing that reimposing U.N. sanctions on Tehran would be legally invalid.
The three countries’ foreign ministers sent a joint letter to the U.N. secretary-general and the Security Council presidency opposing efforts by the U.K., France and Germany to trigger the “snapback” mechanism to reinstate sanctions.
In their letter, Iran, Russia, and China said the claims in the Aug. 28 letter from the European trio (E3) to the Security Council were false, accusing them of failing to fulfill their own obligations under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“The E3’s attempt to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism is legally and procedurally flawed,” the letter said, adding that under paragraph 8 of Resolution 2231, the decision expired on Oct. 18, 2025, making any renewed UN sanctions against Iran “null and void.”
The UK, France, and Germany invoked the snapback clause on Aug. 28, alleging Iranian violations of the nuclear deal.
The mechanism allows U.N. sanctions to be automatically reinstated if a party is found in breach of the agreement.
Russia and China previously told the Security Council that the European countries’ move was “legally invalid and illogical.”
Iran, meanwhile, reached an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Cairo on Sept. 9 to resume inspections that had been suspended following Israeli and U.S. attacks, but European nations said the move was insufficient.
After talks between Iran and European countries failed to produce a breakthrough, U.N. sanctions on Tehran were automatically reimposed at midnight on Sept. 28.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Sept. 12 that Tehran could consider withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) if the sanctions were restored.
In a statement on Oct. 18, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Resolution 2231, which had lifted U.N. sanctions, officially expired as scheduled.
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