News - Middle East: Iran’s deputy foreign minister has called on the E3 and the UN Security Council to grant diplomacy the necessary time and space, amid European threats to invoke the JCPOA’s snapback mechanism, to prevent the expiration of the UN resolution enshrining the accord.

Kazem Gharibabadi made the remarks in an X post on Tuesday after he and Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi met with senior diplomats from the three European signatories to the JCPOA, namely the UK, Germany, and France, in Geneva, focused on Resolution 2231.

Resolution 2231 is due to expire in October, officially lifting restrictions imposed on Iran’s nuclear program 10 years ago after the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the US, the E3, Russia, and China.

European countries, which have long threatened to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism, have said they will wait until the end of August to decide whether Tehran is serious about further negotiations on its nuclear work or whether they should invoke the snapback mechanism.

“Iran remains committed to diplomacy and a mutually beneficial diplomatic solution,” Gharibabadi added.

Iran asserts that European states lack both the legal standing and moral authority to invoke the “snapback” mechanism, a provision of the 2015 nuclear deal that would reimpose six UN Security Council resolutions against Tehran, originally adopted between 2006 and 2010.

To avert an imminent confrontation between Iran and Western governments, Russia has reportedly circulated a draft resolution proposing an extension of the current arrangement.

Under Moscow’s plan, the snapback provision would be extended but barred from activation for at least six months.

Iranian deputy foreign ministers Majid Takht-Ravanchi and Gharibabadi, along with senior representatives from the E3 countries, held a closed-door meeting at Iran’s Consulate General in Istanbul on July 25. The meeting, which lasted more than three hours, followed a similar round held on May 16 in Istanbul.

Source: Press TV