Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced in an official statement that, due to the expiration of Security Council Resolution 2231, the restrictions imposed on Iran must be lifted.
"Accordingly, the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, which had been placed on the Security Council’s agenda under the item “Non-Proliferation,” must be removed from the list of matters under the Council’s consideration. With the expiration of Resolution 2231, Iran’s nuclear program must henceforth be treated in the same manner as that of any non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
The entirety of the purported objective underlying the inclusion of the Iranian nuclear issue on the agenda of the Security Council was to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program and to preclude any diversion thereof toward weaponization purposes. Such objective has been fully and conclusively attained, inasmuch as no report has ever been issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency contradicting this established fact; and notwithstanding the persistent and undue pressures exerted by the three European States and the United States of America upon the Agency to substantiate an alleged non-compliance by the Islamic Republic of Iran with its safeguards obligations, no such determination has ever been made or verified. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite having undertaken commitments of an extraneous and supra-safeguards nature under the JCPOA, was simultaneously subjected to unlawful and coercive sanctions; whereas, in fact, it was the three European States, the European Union, and the United States of America that breached and defaulted upon their own obligations pertaining to the lifting of sanctions.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 and the annex thereto, namely the JCPOA, constituted a landmark achievement of multilateral diplomacy which, during the initial years of its implementation, duly manifested its efficacy, validity, and credibility. Regrettably, the United States of America, through its irresponsible and unilateral withdrawal therefrom in 2018, and the three European States, through their dereliction in the discharge of their respective obligations, failed to duly value this significant accomplishment of diplomacy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates the illegality of the action undertaken by the three European States Parties to the JCPOA (the United Kingdom, France, and Germany), which, devoid of any legal basis or rational justification, and merely in obedience to the will of the United States—the very party that had unilaterally and unjustifiably withdrawn from the JCPOA in 2018—proceeded to abuse the Dispute Resolution Mechanism of the JCPOA in an attempt to reinstate the terminated resolutions of the Security Council. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs further underscores that such action by the three European States has in no manner impaired or affected the legal arrangements set forth in Security Council Resolution 2231, including the timeline of its expiration, and that the said Resolution must be deemed terminated at the designated time, namely on 18 October 2025.
It is likewise emphasized that, notwithstanding the unlawful conduct of the three European States Parties to the JCPOA—each of which, at least since the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018, has continuously and manifestly engaged in “significant non-performance” of its own obligations,
thereby depriving itself of the legal competence to invoke the Dispute Resolution Mechanism of the JCPOA—the Security Council of the United Nations, owing to the explicit opposition of its two permanent members, namely the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, has adopted no decision to reinstate the terminated resolutions.
Accordingly, the confrontational maneuvers undertaken by Germany, the United Kingdom, and France—as continuous violators of the JCPOA—which, in bad faith and in contravention of the pertinent legal procedures, have sought to reinstate the rescinded resolutions of the Security Council, must under no circumstances be accorded any legal or executive validity or effect. The Secretariat of the Security Council is likewise not authorized to endorse or recognize the unlawful course of action pursued by these three States.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while once again recalling the fact that six members of the Security Council, including two permanent members thereof, did not concur with the unlawful action of the three European States and the United States, and further referring to the joint communications of Iran, China, and the Russian Federation addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in this regard, underscores that the Security Council has adopted no decision authorizing the Secretariat to reach any independent conclusion concerning the reinstatement of the rescinded resolutions against Iran, such matter being within the exclusive competence of the Security Council itself.
In view of the foregoing, the Secretary-General of the United Nations is hereby emphatically requested, in accordance with Article 100 of the Charter of the United Nations, to immediately rectify the inaccurate information contained on the United Nations’ official website concerning the alleged process of reinstating the terminated resolutions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and to prevent any further confusion or disruption in the legal and procedural processes pertaining to the functioning of the Security Council.
Furthermore, the Islamic Republic of Iran deems the re-establishment of the Security Council’s sanctions mechanisms, including the Sanctions Committee and the Panel of Experts, to be unlawful, and considers it incumbent upon the Secretariat to expeditiously amend the Security Council’s website through the removal of any claim regarding the reconstitution of such arrangements.
This matter assumes particular necessity in light of the absolute ambiguity prevailing with respect to the philosophy and purpose of the rescinded resolutions, the validity thereof, and the mechanism for their termination.
All Member States of the United Nations are expected, in view of the unlawful nature of the action taken by the three European States, the manifest procedural defect inherent therein, and the absence of any decision by the Security Council either to extend Resolution 2231 or to reinstate the rescinded resolutions, to refrain from according any legal or practical effect to the claims of the three European States and the United States of America regarding the reimposition of the terminated resolutions (including Resolutions 1696, 1737, 1747, 1803, 1835, and 1929), and to regard Resolution 2231 as terminated.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, while reaffirming the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program, most strongly condemns the failure of the Security Council to denounce the military aggression perpetrated by the Zionist regime and the United States of America against the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Iran, as well as their attacks upon Iran’s peaceful and safeguarded nuclear installations. These savage and aggressive assaults against Iran’s nuclear facilities—carried out in the midst of diplomatic negotiations with the United States—constituted a grave betrayal of diplomacy and a severe blow to international law, including the protective mechanisms of the non-proliferation regime vis-à-vis its own members.
These attacks, in addition to causing the martyrdom and injury of several thousand Iranian citizens, the destruction of thousands of residential units, and damage to Iran’s peaceful nuclear infrastructure, also disrupted the normal course of Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran’s subsequent efforts to revive such cooperation, which culminated in the Cairo MoU, were likewise obstructed as a result of the irresponsible and malicious conduct of the three European States in abusing the Dispute Resolution Mechanism of the JCPOA.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its appreciation for the responsible positions adopted by the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation, as permanent members of the Security Council, in their continued opposition to the abuse by the three European States of the Dispute Resolution Mechanism of the JCPOA. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs likewise conveys its gratitude to Algeria and Pakistan, as two non-permanent members of the Council, for their opposition to the unlawful action of the three European States within the Security Council. It further values the decision of the two other non-permanent members of the Council, namely the Republic of Korea and the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, for refraining from endorsing the course of action pursued by the said three European States.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran also expresses its gratitude to the Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement which, in the statement of the Nineteenth Mid-Term Ministerial Conference held in Kampala, Uganda, emphasized the termination of Resolution 2231 pursuant to its paragraph 8, as well as the necessity of full adherence to the provisions and timeline stipulated therein; and likewise to the Member States of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations in New York, which adopted a similar position.
The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its unwavering commitment to diplomacy while resolutely upholding the legitimate rights and lawful interests of the Iranian nation in all fields, including the inalienable right to the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy."
Hossein Amiri - M.a.Mahmoudi
