Iran judiciary says snapback impact limited, pursuing claims over 12-day war

A senior Iranian lawmaker dismissed the reimposition of United Nations sanctions under the snapback mechanism as illegal and largely symbolic, saying it would not bring new pressure on Tehran.

Alireza Salimi, a member of parliament’s presiding board, told local media the move was aimed at creating “psychological pressure” on Iran but would have only a short-term impact.

“In practice, nothing new has happened, since the same sanctions already existed,” he said, adding that Western powers had violated the 2015 nuclear deal from the outset and sought to limit Iran’s missile and nuclear capabilities.

A senior Iranian lawmaker said the activation of the UN sanctions snapback mechanism by the United States and Europe was intended to foment unrest inside Iran.

Ahmad Rastineh, spokesman for parliament’s cultural committee, said on Tuesday that European powers were acting as “obedient servants” of Washington.

He urged the government to formally end nuclear talks, halt cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and repeated that the Islamic Republic seeks the “elimination” of Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had exchanged messages with the United States both directly and indirectly during his trip to New York, but concluded that negotiations with Washington remain futile.

“Messages were exchanged with the Americans both directly and indirectly,” Araghchi told reporters before leaving New York. “It ultimately became clear and certain that talks with the US are a complete dead end,” he added.

Iran’s Javan daily, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, said the reimposition of United Nations sanctions through the snapback mechanism had not surprised Tehran but exposed what it called the “barbarism” and “unreliability” of the West.

The newspaper wrote that Western powers “never settle for less than absolute superiority over non-Western nations” and described international agreements as tools for domination rather than commitments.

It argued that reliance on Western promises is misguided, invoking critiques from philosophers such as Martin Heidegger and Edward Said to suggest that Western culture is inherently exploitative.

“The sanctions and activation of the snapback mechanism reveal again that Western civilization is rooted in treachery and domination,” it said.

The prospect of war involving Iran was “unlikely,” the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Monday, dismissing rumors as “enemy propaganda.”

“There is no evidence of military activity in the region,” Mehr cited an informed source as saying, adding that recent movements of aerial refueling aircraft were related to pressure on Russia and “not a cause for concern.”

The source urged citizens to follow only official news outlets and avoid spreading rumors, stressing that Iran’s armed forces “are fully prepared to defend the country’s borders.”