Iran on Saturday recalled its ambassadors to Germany, France, and the United Kingdom for consultations following the dispute over the mechanism to reinstate UN sanctions, according to Mehr state news agency. The decision came after a failed Russian and Chinese-backed attempt at the UN Security Council to delay the reimposition of sanctions, with only four countries supporting their draft resolution, clearing the way for the sanctions to take effect. Russia’s deputy UN envoy accused Western powers of undermining the diplomatic process.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian assured journalists that Tehran has no intention of leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty, stating, “Iran will never seek nuclear weapons. We are fully prepared to be transparent about our highly enriched uranium,” emphasizing that its nuclear program remains peaceful. All UN sanctions are scheduled to take effect on Saturday, following a 30-day process triggered by the European powers—the E3 (Britain, France, and Germany)—who accused Tehran of violating the 2015 nuclear deal. Efforts to negotiate a delay failed, with nine countries voting against and two abstaining.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the process, calling the snapback “legally void, politically reckless and procedurally flawed,” and accused the US of betraying diplomacy while blaming the E3 for ending negotiations. The European powers had offered a six-month delay if Iran restored access for UN nuclear inspectors, addressed concerns over its enriched uranium stockpile, and engaged in talks with the US. The US representative countered that Iran had failed to meet these concerns, making the return of sanctions inevitable, though diplomacy remained possible.
UN sanctions are set to take effect immediately, while the European Union plans to reinstate its measures next week. The sanctions will restore an arms embargo, ban uranium enrichment and reprocessing, prohibit ballistic missile activities capable of carrying nuclear warheads, impose asset freezes and travel bans on targeted Iranian individuals and entities, and target Iran’s energy sector. Iran’s economy is already under strain due to measures reimposed since 2018, after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country along with the US struck Iranian nuclear installations in June, warned the international community to remain vigilant. He stressed the need to prevent Iran from rebuilding military nuclear capabilities or expanding its enriched uranium stockpiles and emphasized that the forthcoming UN Security Council sanctions must be enforced to eliminate these stockpiles.
