ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has threatened to "suspend" cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, should Britain, France, and Germany reimpose UN sanction.
"Despite the foreign ministry's cooperation with the (International Atomic Energy) Agency and the presentation of plans to resolve the issue, the actions of European countries will effectively suspend the path of cooperation with the agency," Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in a televised statement on Saturday.
The announcement comes after the Security Council reimposed frozen UN sanctions in a vote on Friday, following the activation of the "snapback" mechanism by the three powerful European governments, accusing Tehran of non-compliance for an agreement on its nuclear program.
According to the vote, sanctions that had been frozen in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program in the landmark 2015 deal, will take effect on September 28, should Tehran fail to convince the top security body to relent in the next week.
The Islamic republic has slammed the vote, saying the move undermined continued coordination and talks between the IAEA and Tehran.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom late last month initiated a 30-day process known as the snapback mechanism to reimpose United Nations sanctions, a decision Iran has described as “unjustified, illegal and lacking any legal basis."
The snapback mechanism is a powerful diplomatic tool embedded in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that allows for the automatic reimposition of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran if it violates its nuclear commitments.
The European powers have upped their pressure on Tehran to adhere to nuclear commitments ever since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, which ended when the United States launched its own strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and subsequently brokered a ceasefire.
Before the war with Israel, Iran held five rounds of Oman-mediated indirect nuclear talks with the US, which had pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018.
In a post on X earlier this week, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has done its part by signing an agreement with IAEA that "opens a new chapter of cooperation, in line with our domestic and international obligations, despite the unlawful bombing of our safeguarded nuclear facilities."
He said that Iran has already presented "a creative, fair, and balanced proposal which addresses genuine concerns and is mutually beneficial. Turning this idea into action can prompt and resolve the respective bottom lines to avert a crisis."