News - Middle East: Iran, China, and Russia’s permanent ambassadors to the United Nations have submitted a joint letter to the world body’s secretary-general, reaffirming conclusion of the UN Security Council (UNSC)’s consideration of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear file.

In a joint letter addressed to Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, the envoys reminded the termination of all provisions under UNSC Resolution 2231, whose termination in October marked closure of the nuclear dossier.

In 2015, the resolution endorsed a nuclear agreement signed between the Islamic Republic and world countries earlier that year.

Its expiration on October 18 marked termination of all the previous UNSC resolutions that had mandated imposition of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran over Western and Israeli allegations against the country’s peaceful nuclear energy program.

The UK, France, and Germany, however, triggered the nuclear accord’s so-called “snapback” mechanism before the resolution’s expiration in a move fully encouraged by the United States.

The effort prompted the Council to announce restoration of the bans – a move deemed categorically illegal by Tehran, Beijing, and Moscow.

The envoys’ communication likewise carried a tone of legal certainty, stating that efforts by the Western states to invoke the “snapback” mechanism had no procedural or legal standing, due to prior violations by the same claimants.

They were referring to the US’s illegal and unilateral withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, and the European trio’s unlawfully suspending their trade with Iran, despite their being banned from doing so by the deal.

The ambassadors recalled a cornerstone principle affirmed by the International Court of Justice, declaring that no party may rely on rights arising from an agreement that it has itself failed to uphold.

Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, who had signed the letter alongside China’s Fu Cong and Russia’s Vasily Nebenzia, meanwhile, emphasized the Islamic Republic’s sustained and all-out commitment to continued preservation of the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program as well as its ongoing commitment to diplomatic engagement.

Source: Press TV