Russian proposed resolution smart move in support of Iran against snapback
By Rouhollah Modabber
Russian affairs expert
Russia’s submission of a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council, aimed at extending Resolution 2231 for six months — the very resolution under which Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) was endorsed — was as a smart, friendly, and responsible initiative. By inserting specific legal wording, Moscow has effectively tied the hands of the European troika – the France, Germany and the UK (E3), preventing them from triggering the snapback of sanctions against Iran during this period.
Yet, given the hostile policy pursued by the E3, the possibility remains that their representatives could veto the draft and block its adoption.
Russia’s policy toward Iran has consistently been one of cooperation, responsibility, and partnership, with the objective of backing Tehran in international organizations and helping to ward off the joint schemes of the European powers, Israel, and the United States. It should be recalled that the snapback mechanism itself, which allows the JCPOA parties to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran, was a wholly Western creation, inserted into the 2015 nuclear deal by the E3 in collaboration with the US.
Now, considering the adversarial stance taken by the European powers — and even their direct involvement in Israel’s aggression against Tehran in June—the likelihood of the snapback being wielded as a practical tool by Europe is very real.
Russia, however, has now tabled a carefully crafted draft, whose preamble explicitly states that the six-month extension of the snapback mechanism is meant to give Iran breathing space, while suspending “any substantive consideration of any matters related to the implementation of Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA” for the duration of this period.
This suspension, crucially, covers the activation of the snapback as well. The draft further stipulates that any potential use of the mechanism in the future must depend on assessments of existing conditions and compliance.
Should this draft be adopted, the clever provision contained in its preamble ensures that the snapback will automatically lapse after six months, leaving the European troika unable to set it in motion. This unprecedented step by Russia, taken for the first time, would is a positive move in support of Iran. For precisely that reason, however, Western governments are unlikely to rally behind the initiative and are expected instead to shoot it down with a veto.