[News] E3 made 'big mistake' on snapback sanctions against Iran

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/araghchi--e3-made--big-mistake--on-snapback-sanctions>
Araghchi: E3 made 'big mistake' on snapback sanctions
Al Mayadeen English
September 7, 2025
------------------------------

Iran's FM warns Europe made a "grave miscalculation" by reimposing nuclear
sanctions, accusing the E3 of abandoning diplomacy to follow Trump's
hardline approach.

   - [image: Araghchi: E3 made 'big mistake' on snapback sanctions]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/9/7/5b014c62-5609-49ab-bfcc-9690fb3df978.jpg?v=3&width=1000>
   Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends the 17th annual BRICS summit
   in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi has issued a sharp rebuke to
Britain, France, and Germany over their decision to reimpose UN sanctions
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-slams-e3-snapback-bid--backs-russia-china-nuclear-plan>
on Iran, arguing that the European powers have made a "grave
miscalculation" in following Donald Trump's hardline approach.

In a strongly worded opinion piece published in *The Guardian*, Araghchi
accused E3 nations of abandoning their role as a moderating force in favor
of enabling American excesses in the Middle East.

"For more than two decades, Europe has been at the heart of the ongoing,
manufactured crisis over my country's peaceful nuclear programme," Araghchi
wrote. "Once a moderating force aspiring to restrain a belligerent America
with maximalist aims in our region, Europe is today enabling the excesses
of Washington."

The Iranian Foreign Minister was responding to last week's decision by
Britain, France, and Germany to activate the "snapback" mechanism
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/e3-to-launch-un-sanctions-process-on-iran-thursday--reuters>
for UN sanctions on Iran under the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Araghchi dismissed the move as lacking "any legal standing
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/europe-has-no-right-to-invoke-snapback-mechanism-under-jcpoa>,
chiefly because it ignores the sequence of events that led Iran to adopt
lawful remedial measures under the nuclear deal."
Accusations of historical revisionism

The Foreign Minister accused the E3
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran--e3-to-hold-deputy-level-nuclear-talks-in-geneva-on-aug>
of attempting to rewrite history regarding the nuclear agreement's
collapse. "The three countries want the world to forget that it was the US,
and not Iran, that unilaterally ended participation in the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action," he argued.

He further criticized European nations for "their outrageous welcoming
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/der-spiegel-says-germany-notified-ahead-of-israeli-strikes-o>
of the bombing of Iran in June" and failing to uphold their commitments
under the original deal.

According to Araghchi, the European approach
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/e3-decision-erodes-iaea-talks--compels-appropriate-response>
stems from a misguided belief that demonstrating loyalty to Washington will
secure them influence on other global issues. "This is a grave
miscalculation that is bound to backfire," he warned. "President Trump has
made clear that he views the E3 as tangential actors."
Historical context and missed opportunities

Reflecting on the evolution of European-Iranian relations, Araghchi noted
that when the E3
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran--european-troika-demands-are-public-support-for-israeli>
was formed in 2003 "to rein in the George W Bush administration after its
invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran welcomed the endeavor." However,
those early talks collapsed when "Europe could neither offer anything
substantial nor stand up to Washington."

He also traced the path that led to the 2015 nuclear deal, describing "an
eight-year race of sanctions v centrifuges between Iran and the west,
during which my country amassed 20,000 centrifuges, 100 times more than in
2005."

He emphasized that the JCPOA
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-defends-jcpoa-rights--exposes-e3-s-falsities>
represented a successful formula, "unprecedented oversight and curbs on
Iranian enrichment in exchange for the termination of sanctions. The
formula worked."
European promises unfulfilled

Araghchi highlighted European leaders' initial resistance to Trump's
withdrawal from the nuclear deal, quoting French Finance Minister Bruno Le
Maire's declaration that Europe is not a "vassal" and European commitments
to maintain "strategic autonomy" in trade relations with Iran.

"None of it materialized," Araghchi wrote bluntly. "While failing to uphold
its own obligations, Europe has expected Iran to unilaterally accept all
restrictions."

The Iranian top diplomat warned that the European gambit "will not achieve
the result they seek. On the contrary, it will only further sideline them
by eliminating it from future diplomacy
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iranian-diplomacy-averted-full-scale-war-multiple-times--ara>,
with broad negative consequences for all of Europe in terms of its global
credibility and standing."

Despite his criticism, Araghchi emphasized that "Iran
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-s-parliament-submits-emergency-bill-to-withdraw-from-np>
remains open to diplomacy" and is "ready to forge a realistic and lasting
bargain that entails ironclad oversight and curbs on enrichment in exchange
for the termination of sanctions."

He cautioned against missing this opportunity, "Failing to seize on this
fleeting window of opportunity may have consequences destructive for the
region and beyond on a whole new level."
Regional security implications

Araghchi concluded with a stark warning about regional military dynamics,
asserting that "the powerful armed forces of Iran are ready and able to
once again pummel Israel into running to 'daddy' to be bailed out."

He argued that "Israel's" actions "cost American taxpayers billions of
dollars, robbed the United States of vital hardware that is now missing
from its inventories, and projected Washington as a reckless actor dragged
into a rogue regime's wars of choice."

The Foreign Minister's final appeal was direct: "If Europe truly wants a
diplomatic solution, and if President Trump wants the bandwidth to focus on
real issues that are not manufactured in Tel Aviv, they need to give
diplomacy the time and space that it needs to succeed. The alternative
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iran-vows-response-as-e3-triggers-un--snapback--sanctions-me>
is not likely to be pretty."
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