FM spox slams G7 supportive statement on anti-Iran sanctions
Iran’s Foreign Ministry in a statement on Thursday censured the G7's support for the reimposition of UN sanctions against Tehran, saying that the group’s move will not change the “illegal and unjustified” nature of the sanctions.
The ministry’s spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the G7’s support for the “illegal and unjustified” move by the United States and three European countries to reinstate terminated UN Security Council sanctions amounted to an endorsement of a violation of international law.
The ministry’s reaction followed a statement by the G7 Foreign Ministers and the High Representative of the EU on Wednesday, which welcomed the E3 activation of the snapback regime reimposing United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions and other restrictions against Iran.
Baqaei underscored that this stance by the G7 cannot change the “illegal and unjustified” nature of the action, which he said abused the dispute resolution mechanism of the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.
On September 19, the 15-member Security Council failed to adopt a resolution that would have prevented the re-imposition of UN sanctions on Iran after the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal — France, Germany and Britain — triggered the “snapback” mechanism and accused Tehran of failing to comply with the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
A subsequent resolution, which sought to grant a six-month extension to both the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, also failed to pass at the Security Council on Friday.
The ministry’s spokesman described the G7's claim that the three European countries and US had repeatedly offered Iran “diplomatic avenues in good faith” as a “complete lie.”
He stated the claim was a “distortion of the truth,” recalling the Israeli military aggression against Iran and a subsequent direct US strike on its nuclear facilities in June, which occurred during diplomatic negotiations.
Baqaei said that the US administration is the primary factor behind the current situation due to its illegal and unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018.
Failure by the three European parties to the nuclear deal to fulfill their commitments as well their support for the US-Isreal aggression against Iran contributed to the current situation, the Iranian official said.