The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, asserted that the European troika (EU3) lacks both the competence and the right to trigger the 2015 nuclear deal’s “snapback” provisions. During a weekly press conference, Baqaei emphasized Iran’s principled opposition to such a move, which was a point of discussion in the recent Istanbul talks between Iran and the EU3 on nuclear issues and sanctions removal.
Baqaei stressed that the European parties to the JCPOA have no competence to utilize the snapback mechanism.
The EU3 has no right to trigger the snapback mechanism either, Baqaei stated, adding that Iran is opposed to such plan in principle and has notified the EU3 of its stances.
It is not unnatural for the European sides to have offered their own interpretations, but those are not necessarily Iran’s views, Baqaei added.
He then reminded the EU3 that it cannot resort to the snapback mechanism of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a leverage, saying such plan will not work.
The spokesman warned the UK, France and Germany that abusing the snapback mechanism will draw Iran’s proportional response and complicate matters further.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has already warned the European troika that triggering the snapback mechanism will end the EU3’s role in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program and do irreparable damages to diplomatic relations.
Source: Iranian media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
