Iran Denounces US, Europe for Sabotaging UN Diplomacy on Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denounced the United States and European powers for sabotaging diplomacy after the UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution by Russia and China aimed at preserving talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Araqchi, speaking to reporters after the vote in New York on September 26, said this was the second time in a week that diplomacy had been blocked under US pressure.
He stressed that Iran has remained a responsible member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for more than two decades and pursued its “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear energy with transparency.
The 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was endorsed unanimously by Resolution 2231 and confirmed by 15 consecutive IAEA reports, Araqchi said.
He said the current crisis is because of the US withdrawal from the accord in 2018 and the failure of European signatories to fulfill their commitments.
“The US betrayed diplomacy. The EU3 (France, the UK and Germany) buried it,” he told journalists.
Araqchi said Washington and European governments misrepresented Iran’s peaceful program for years and echoed “Israel’s false claims” against Iran while ignoring that Israel holds the region’s only nuclear arsenal outside the NPT. He condemned them for applying a “glaring double standard.”
He also condemned Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and the assassinations of Iranian scientists, “and murdering women and children” carried out with US support, under a “state terrorism” that Europe failed to denounce.
By contrast, Araqchi said Iran has upheld its JCPOA and safeguards obligations despite sanctions and pressure. He noted that Tehran signed a new memorandum with the IAEA in Cairo on September 9, welcomed by the international community, while Western powers turned to “illegal snapback” measures.
He welcomed Russia and China’s proposal to extend Resolution 2231 for six months but criticized Washington and the EU3 for blocking it, saying their actions proved they sought confrontation rather than dialogue.
“Iran’s position on snapback is clear: it is illegal, void, and has no standing,” Araqchi said, warning that Resolution 2231 restrictions will expire permanently on October 18. He urged the Security Council president to declare the latest decision unlawful and called on the UN Secretary General not to engage in any attempt to revive expired sanctions.
He said those pursuing “unlawful paths” would bear responsibility for undermining the UN’s credibility and worsening humanitarian conditions for Iranians.
“This dangerous precedent must not stand. If agreements can be broken at will, no nation can trust international commitments. If unlawful measures are enforced by power instead of law, the Security Council itself will lose authority,” Araqchi said, concluding that only dialogue could resolve the dispute.
“Military attacks have failed. Snapback will fail, too. The only solution is dialogue,” he said.
“Iran will never bow to pressure. We respond only to respect.”
