E3 Countries Urge Iran to Return to Negotiations

World 09:17 AM - 2025-09-28

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper issued the statement on Iran alongside her French and German coun

The UK, France, and Germany have urged Iran not to escalate tensions and instead return to negotiations after the United Nations’ sweeping sanctions were reinstated on Tehran, a decade after they were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal.

In a joint statement, the three European countries – known as the E3 – said the move was a “last resort” in response to Iran’s “continued nuclear escalation” and its refusal to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“We urge Iran to refrain from any escalatory action,” the statement read. “The reimposition of UN sanctions is not the end of diplomacy.”

Background to the Sanctions

The sanctions were originally lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), agreed in 2015. However, Iran expanded its nuclear programme after the United States, under then-president Donald Trump, withdrew from the agreement in 2018, labelling it as flawed.

Earlier this week, talks between the E3 and Iran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly failed to delay the reimposition of sanctions. The E3 said Tehran had “repeatedly breached its commitments” and ignored demands to address concerns over its enriched uranium stockpiles and refusal to grant IAEA inspectors full access to nuclear sites.

“Iran has not authorised IAEA inspectors to regain access to Iran’s nuclear sites, nor has it produced and transmitted to the IAEA a report accounting for its stockpile of high-enriched uranium,” the E3 statement added.

Iran suspended IAEA inspections after U.S. and Israeli strikes on several of its nuclear facilities and military bases in June. While Tehran has since resumed partial cooperation with the UN watchdog, European diplomats said progress was insufficient.

Iran’s Response

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the sanctions as “unfair, unjust, and illegal,” insisting that Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

Speaking on Friday, Pezeshkian warned that the return of sanctions could jeopardise cooperation with the IAEA, though he walked back earlier threats of withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty altogether.

The president also rejected a U.S. proposal to hand over all of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium in exchange for a three-month suspension of sanctions, saying: “Why would we put ourselves in such a trap and have a noose around our neck each month?”

On Saturday, Tehran announced it was recalling its ambassadors to the UK, France, and Germany for consultations in protest at the sanctions.

Source: BBC



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