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Iran’s armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any threat or potential assault, armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Sunday.
“Unity between the army and the Revolutionary Guards is the guarantor of preserving Iran’s territorial integrity,” Mousavi said during a meeting with the Guards’ commander.
“The armed forces are fully ready to confront any threat or possible aggression with strength,” he added, speaking as the UN snapback sanctions against Iran took effect.
Talk of renewed conflict after the snapback of United Nations sanctions is psychological warfare meant to disrupt markets, parliament’s national security committee member Esmail Kowsari said on Sunday.
“Now that the snapback has been activated, they say war will break out, but this is psychological warfare, not a real operation, because they want to rattle the market,” Kowsari said.
“From today we will decide on issues such as leaving the NPT,” he added.
The snapback mechanism is nothing new and carries only propaganda value, Tehran city council chief Mehdi Chamran said on Sunday.
“Snapback is something that has existed for a long time and the United States has enforced even harsher measures,” he said.
Iran had evaded and resisted past United Nations sanctions, he added.
"The revived sanctions would have no pressure,” Chamran said, describing them as a publicity tool for Western governments.
The return of United Nations sanctions triggered by European powers is illegal, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The resolutions are regarded by Tehran as terminated, according to the ministry.
"Action to revive terminated resolutions is legally baseless and morally and logically unacceptable.”
The statement was issued after France, Britain, and Germany restored sanctions under the so-called snapback mechanism.
In a lengthy statement carried by state media, the ministry denounced Britain, France, Germany and the United States for “abusing” the dispute-resolution process in the 2015 nuclear deal and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to bring back restrictions.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects the claim of the three European countries and the United States regarding the return of previous resolutions that ended under Resolution 2231 in 2015, and emphasizes that no obligation is created for UN member states, including Iran,” the ministry said.
It added: “Any attempt to revive terminated resolutions is legally baseless, morally unacceptable and logically flawed.”
The foreign ministry said Resolution 2231, which endorsed the nuclear deal, must expire on October 18, 2025 as scheduled. “Resolution 2231 of the Security Council and its restrictions on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program should be deemed terminated on that date,” it said.
The ministry accused the Europeans of “gross non-performance” of their obligations under the 2015 deal while siding with the United States in military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites in June.
“By explicitly or implicitly supporting the military aggression of the Zionist regime and the United States against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities … they flagrantly violated international law, the non-proliferation regime, and specifically Resolution 2231,” it said.
Iran also said European powers acted “in bad faith” by pushing a draft resolution through the Security Council despite opposition from other signatories, including Russia, China and Iran. “It is regrettable that despite the clear positions of other members of the JCPOA, the Council president illegally put the draft to a vote,” the statement said.
“Iran will vigorously defend the rights and interests of the Iranian nation, and any move to harm them will be met with an appropriate and decisive response,” the ministry warned.
Araghchi’s letter to the UN
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately wrote to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Sang Jin Kim, saying the alleged return of sanctions “null and void.”
Echoing same arguments in the statement, Araghchi said, “We urge you to prevent any attempt to revive the sanctions mechanisms, including the Sanctions Committee and the Panel of Experts. None of the UN’s resources should be dedicated to supporting such illegal acts.”
Araghchi also argued that the European move was procedurally flawed. “The notification of the three European countries to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism is legally and procedurally defective, and thus null and void,” he wrote.
“They themselves defaulted on their commitments, misused the JCPOA dispute settlement process, and even justified military attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran.”
In his letter, Araghchi also recalled past divisions in the Security Council, saying that in 2020 a similar US effort failed.
“This situation mirrors that of October 2020, when the United States illegally sought to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism. At that time, the president of the Security Council said in a letter dated August 25, 2020, that the Council was not in a position to act on the matter.”
“Subsequently, in a letter dated September 21, 2020, thirteen members confirmed that the US communication could not be considered a valid notification to initiate the snapback process under paragraph 11 of Resolution 2231, and therefore no automatic procedure was activated. In October 2020, the Secretary-General and the Secretariat likewise declined to implement or reimpose sanctions, citing divisions and lack of consensus within the Council.”
“The September 26, 2025 vote once again showed that the Council is divided and lacks consensus on restoring sanctions,” he said.
Araghchi stressed that restrictions must end permanently on October 18, 2025. “All nuclear-related restrictions under Resolution 2231 will end on that date. Iran will not recognize any effort to extend, revive or enforce them after that,” he said.
Blame on Europe and US
Elsewhere in the Sunday statement, the foreign ministry insisted that Iran had shown “repeated commitment to dialogue and diplomacy” since 2015, implementing the deal until a year after Washington’s withdrawal in 2018.
“Iran presented numerous proposals for the restoration of commitments or a new negotiated understanding, all of which failed due to the lack of seriousness and good faith of the Europeans and the US,” it said.
It also highlighted what it called “criminal aggression” by Israel and the US against its nuclear facilities in June. “These attacks … killed and wounded many Iranian citizens and destroyed nuclear facilities and vital infrastructure. Iran will use all available tools to prosecute and punish the perpetrators and demand compensation,” the ministry said.
Tehran concluded that Western states had chosen “confrontation and crisis-making” over diplomacy.
“The Europeans and the United States mistakenly believe they will gain new leverage by reviving terminated resolutions. History has proven this wrong, and will prove it again,” the statement said.
