MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. Russia’s initiative to extend UN Security Council Resolution 2231 for six months intends to protect the negotiation process on Tehran’s nuclear program from impulsive and destructive steps by the European troika to reinstate UN sanctions against Iran, an expert said.
"The European troika — the UK, Germany, and France — has only one lever of pressure they can use in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program. This is the snapback mechanism, which allows for the automatic reinstatement of UN Security Council sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program. These sanctions were part of the 2015 JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231," Adlan Margoev, an expert on Iran and research fellow at the MGIMO Institute for International Studies, said.
According to him, "with no possibility to affect the US or Iran’s position on the talks, the Europeans face a dilemma: either completely undermine the negotiation process by unleashing this mechanism or do nothing and lose their last leverage, remaining on the sidelines of the process they initiated in 2003."
Margoev noted that Russia’s initiative to extend UN Security Council Resolution 2231 for six months until April 18, 2026, "is coordinated with China and Iran and is aimed at removing the time pressure factor from the agenda so that the Europeans won't make ill-considered decisions that could harm the negotiation process." According to the expert, the goal of this proposal is to keep the window for dialogue open.
"If by adopting the Russian initiative the sides will reach a compromise on the uranium enrichment issue, then, it will be much easier to negotiate on other issues related to the nuclear program," Margoev concluded.
Earlier, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said that Moscow supports extending the JCPOA for six months.
Talks on Iranian nuclear dossier
On August 26, Iran and the European troika held talks in Geneva at the level of deputy foreign ministers. During the meeting, the troika demanded that Iran resume allowing the IAEA access to its nuclear facilities and resume talks on reaching a new agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.
After the meeting, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that Iran supports diplomacy and a mutually beneficial settlement to contentious issues. He added that the European troika and the UN Security Council must now "make the right choice, giving diplomacy time and space."
Earlier, the US and the European troika agreed to consider late August as the deadline for reaching a deal with Iran. If they fail, the UK, Germany, and France plan to launch a snapback mechanism that would reinstate the 2015 UN Security Council sanctions against Tehran. In turn, Iran threatened to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty if sanctions are resumed. Tehran was among the first to join the NPT Treaty. The Western countries may activate the snapback mechanism as early as October 18.