Iran Recalls Envoys In Germany, France, UK As UN Sanctions To Resume Over Nuclear Activity

IRAN, on Saturday, September 27, recalled its ambassadors to Germany, France and the United Kingdom (UK) for consultation over the dispute mechanism to reinstate United Nations (UN) sanctions, the country’s Mehr state news agency reported.
The move came after a Russian and Chinese push on Friday to delay the revival of the international sanctions on Iran failed at the 15-member UN Security Council, after only four countries supported their draft resolution, opening the door for the reimposition of sanctions.
The UNs’ sweeping economic and military sanctions look set to be reimposed on Iran a decade after they were lifted in a landmark international deal over its nuclear programme.
It comes after the UK, France and Germany wrote to the UN Security Council last month, accusing Iran of failing to fulfil its commitments.
That triggered a mechanism giving Iran 30 days to find a diplomatic solution to avert renewed sanctions.
Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, condemned the re-imposition of international sanctions as “unfair, unjust and illegal.”
A last-minute resolution to delay the move by six months, led by China and Russia, only received four votes in the 15-member council.
The sanctions are set to come into force at 00:00 GMT on Sunday, September 28.
Iran stepped up banned nuclear activity after the United States (US) quit the deal in 2016. President Donald Trump pulled the US out in his first term, criticising the deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated under his predecessor, Barack Obama, as flawed.
Iran barred UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from accessing its nuclear facilities, following Israel and the US bombing of several of its nuclear sites, as well as military bases, in June after negotiations held indirectly between the US and Iran to try to reach a new nuclear deal became deadlocked.
Pezeshkian told the UN this week that his country would never seek to build a nuclear bomb.
Speaking to a group of journalists, Pezeshkian accused foreign powers of seeking a superficial pretext to set the region ablaze, insisting that despite previous threats, Iran would not quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But he added that Tehran would need reassurances that its nuclear facilities would not be attacked by Israel in order to normalise its nuclear enrichment programme.
Pezeshkian kept pointing to the negotiations that had taken place before Israel and the US bombed Iran’s nuclear sites in June, accusing the Americans of not taking the talks seriously.
The sanctions, which add yet more strain to an already fraught situation, would include an arms embargo; a ban on uranium enrichment, a ban on activity connected to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons; a freeze of assets and a travel ban on Iranian figures and entities; and authorisation of countries to inspect Iran Air and Iran Shipping Lines cargo.
Unless a solution is found, UN sanctions would come into force first, followed by EU sanctions next week.
European foreign ministers had tried to avert the Council’s step by urging Iran to resume negotiations with the US; to cooperate with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA; and to account for its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
Speaking at the UN on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Aragchi, said: “The United States has betrayed diplomacy, but it is the E3 (Britain, Germany and France) which have buried it.
“The negotiation with the United States is in fact a pure dead end.”
Iran is legally obliged under the nuclear treaty to allow inspections. It has been in talks this week with the IAEA to find a way forward, but has warned that a return of sanctions will put that in jeopardy.
On Friday, the IAEA confirmed that inspections of Iranian nuclear sites had resumed this week after a hiatius, following Washington and Israel’s strikes.
Western powers and the IAEA say they are not convinced that Iran’s nuclear programme has purely peaceful purposes. But Iran strongly insists it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its programme is solely a civilian one.
Russia on Friday signed a $25billion deal with Iran to build four nuclear power reactors in southern Iran, Iranian state-run IRNA news agency reported.