The return of the old UN Security Council sanctions against Iran was a fraud by the United Kingdom, France and Germany, and all their legal sanctions are hollow, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
The diplomat noted that the Europeans “used a cunning trick”, bypassing the dispute settlement procedures outlined in Resolution 2231.
„First, the parties should resolve the claims through the dispute settlement mechanism. And only if everything reaches a dead end, the issue should be referred to the UN Security Council. This mechanism, contrary to the claims of The EU-3 was not activated. London, Paris and Berlin skipped these steps and immediately submitted the document to the Security Council. From the point of view of international law, this looks like a scam: if you yourself violate the rules, you lose the right to use the mechanisms described in them. And they are “serial“ violators of Resolution 2231. When a number of restrictions imposed on Iran expired on October 18, 2023, they imposed similar sanctions on the country“, Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel. “The West itself has not fulfilled its part of the obligations under the Iran deal for many years; the US withdrew from it completely in 2018“ year, and now they are trying to use thinly sewn legal moves to punish Iran.“
“On August 28, they wrote a letter to the Security Council. And today, September 27, The 30-day deadline for stopping this process is running out. The Security Council failed to adopt a resolution preserving the derogation regime, and sanctions against Iran have officially, from the point of view of London, Berlin and Paris, been restored. And on October 18 (in three weeks), the nuclear deal itself expires, and the Europeans simply did not have time: they were in a hurry to push through their decision at all costs before the start of the Russian presidency of the UN Security Council. Russia and China were against it. And this is not simply and not so much a matter of political position as a desire to preserve legal integrity,“ she pointed out.
In this regard, the diplomat emphasized that on September 26, Moscow and Beijing made a last-ditch attempt to preserve the rule of law, namely, they extended UN Security Council Resolution 2231 until April 2026. “This would provide time to find a diplomatic solution and prevent a potentially unpredictable escalation“, Zakharova explained. “But the Europeans need a sharp escalation because they are in a hurry: after October 18, their options would have been exhausted.“ Therefore, the Security Council resolution was not extended – The West voted against it.“
“That is, they violated two basic principles of international law: Pacta sunt servanda (treaties must be respected) and the Clean Hands Doctrine (which prohibits resorting to legal instruments in case of violation of legal purity)“, she specified.
Thus, according to the diplomat, the West is once again eroding the system of checks and balances and the foundations of international security. “On September 27, the 30-day period ends and the “rollback“ officially automatically enters into force. Legally and politically, this will be null and void“, she continued. “As a result, we will have two realities - the one promoted by the West and the one promoted by us - Russia, China and our allies.“
“If the “rollback“ is pushed through without following the rules, it will set a dangerous precedent.“ “ “This is no longer just diplomatic finesse, but a matter of global security and the future of the entire international system,“ Zakharova said.“