West should ‘reverse course’ for confidence building: Envoy
Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani vehemently dismissed any form of coercion, intimidation, or political pressure, calling on Western powers to reverse their current approach and adopt concrete, credible measures aimed at rebuilding trust and confidence.
Addressing a UN Security Council session on Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities on Tuesday, Iravani firmly rejected the legitimacy of the meeting itself and stressed that the Islamic Republic will not relinquish its right to uranium enrichment under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“Security Council resolution 2231 contains a clear, deliberate, and self-executing termination clause. This resolution expired on October 18, 2025. As of that date, it ceased to have any legal effect or operative mandate. Accordingly, the Security Council’s role under resolution 2231 came to a definitive end,” he said.
He added that therefore, there is “no mandate” for the Secretary-General to submit a report, “no mandate” for the council to discuss it, and “no legal basis whatsoever” to convene the meeting under the “Non-proliferation” agenda.
Resolution 2231 endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated previous sanctions, and set a clear timetable for their permanent expiration on October 18, 2025.
Earlier this year, the European troika – namely the UK, France, and Germany –triggered the so-called snapback mechanism that led to restoration of sanctions against Iran.
On the issue of the “snapback” of UN sanctions, Iravani reiterated that Iran considers all such claims legally invalid, arguing that Resolution 2231 has terminated and that countries in non-compliance lack standing to invoke its mechanisms.
He underscored that Iran “remains fully committed to principled diplomacy and genuine negotiations. It will never submit to coercion, intimidation, or political pressure.”
“It is now incumbent upon France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to reverse course and take concrete, credible steps to restore trust and confidence,” he underlined.
The ambassador also criticized France and the United Kingdom for choosing escalation over diplomacy, slamming them for undermining Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA and contributing to the collapse of diplomatic initiatives, including a memorandum of understanding signed in Cairo earlier this year.
According to Iravani, the unilateral US withdrawal from the JCPOA, sustained non-compliance by France, Germany, and the UK, and subsequent “military aggression” by the US and Israel against Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities are the origin of the crisis.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly said that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, stressing that its nuclear technology is solely for civil purposes. Also, there is a Fatwa by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution which bans any possession and use of weapons of mass destruction.