Iran
An Iranian general with a domestically built Sayyad-3 missile, in a photo from the Iran’s defence ministry. AP file photo
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran on Sunday denounced the reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program as "unjustifiable", vowing 'firm and appropriate response," and urging countries not to enforce them.
In the early hours of Sunday, the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program, as last-ditch efforts by Russia and China failed to stop the decision. The sanctions mean again freezing Iranian assets abroad, suspending arms deals with Tehran, and penalizing any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as several other crippling measures.
"The reactivation of annulled resolutions is not only legally baseless and unjustifiable... all countries must refrain from recognising this illegal situation," Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Tehran warned it "will firmly defend its national rights and interests, and any action aimed at undermining the rights and interests of its people will face a firm and appropriate response."
The reimposition came a day after the UN Security Council rejected efforts by Russia and China to delay it, a move that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian slammed as “unfair, unjust and illegal.”
Reimposing “snapback sanctions” came a day before the deadline, after France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, known as E3 countries, said weeks of talks and meetings with Tehran did not bear any fruit to reach an agreement over its nuclear program.
Despite reinstating the sanctions, Western countries said dialogue remained open, warning Iran against resorting to causing escalations.
The European countries seek "a new diplomatic solution to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon," according to a joint statement by French, British, and German foreign ministers, calling on Tehran "to refrain from any escalatory action".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for his part, urged Iran to "accept direct talks, held in good faith", while calling on UN member states to "immediately" implement sanctions to "pressure Iran's leaders to do what is right for their nation, and best for the safety of the world".
The snapback mechanism is a powerful diplomatic tool embedded in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that allows for the automatic reimposition of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran if it violates its nuclear commitments.
The European powers had upped their pressure on Tehran to adhere to nuclear commitments ever since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, which ended when the United States launched its own strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and subsequently brokered a ceasefire.
Before the war with Israel, Iran held five rounds of Oman-mediated indirect nuclear talks with the US, which had pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018.
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