The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, on the one hand, and the European countries of the E3+3 (Germany, France, United Kingdom), on the other, noted on Sunday 20 September that the Americans, no longer participating in the nuclear agreement with Iran, could not begin the process of restoring UN sanctions under UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
On the night of 19-20 September, one month after announcing the launch of the snapback procedure, the United States unilaterally declared a return to UN sanctions against Iran (see EUROPE 12544/11).
Thus, taking note of the US announcement, the High Representative recalled that the United States unilaterally ceased to participate in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and has not participated in any JCPOA-related activities since then. “They cannot therefore be considered as a participating state in the JCPOA and cannot begin the process of restoring UN sanctions under UN Security Council Resolution 2231”, the High Representative stressed. Before adding that “Consequently, the sanctions lifting the commitments made in the JCPOA continue to apply”.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom take the same view, considering that the United States is no longer a participant in the JCPOA and therefore that “the notification allegedly based on paragraph 11 of Security Council resolution 2231, received from the United States and transmitted to the member States of the Security Council, is without legal effect”. “It follows that any decisions or actions taken on the basis of this procedure or its outcome are without legal effect”, they added.
Both the High Representative and the E3 reiterated their objective of preserving the Iranian nuclear agreement. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)