Iran has recalled its ambassadors from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany for consultations, state media reported on Saturday, after the three European nations triggered a mechanism reinstating United Nations sanctions on Tehran for the first time in a decade.
“Following the irresponsible action of the three European countries to reinstate repealed UN Security Council resolutions, Iran’s ambassadors to Germany, France and the United Kingdom have been summoned to Tehran for consultations,” Tasnim news agency and other outlets said.
The decision came a day after Russia and China failed to block the revival of international sanctions at the UN Security Council. Their draft resolution received backing from only four of the 15 member states, clearing the way for the sanctions to return.
The European trio, known as the E3, launched the “snapback” process a month ago, accusing Iran of failing to address concerns over its nuclear programme. The move followed countermeasures taken by Tehran during a 12-day June conflict, in which Iranian officials said Israeli and US strikes killed more than 1,000 people.
The sanctions, due to take effect at 00:00 GMT on Sunday, will reimpose a worldwide ban on cooperation with Iran across its nuclear, military, banking, and shipping sectors. Iran’s currency, the rial, plunged to record lows on Saturday, trading at more than 1.1 million to the US dollar on the open market in Tehran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on Friday that some inspections had resumed at Iranian facilities this week but did not specify whether this included sites bombed by Israel and the US. Speaking in Moscow at the World Atomic Week forum, Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami criticised the UN watchdog for failing to condemn the strikes.
Western governments rejected at least two Iranian proposals to defer snapback measures in recent days, arguing insufficient progress was made during high-level talks at the UN General Assembly.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said there was no incentive to strike a deal when Israel and the US were using sanctions pressure to undermine Iran’s leadership.
“If the goal had been to resolve concerns on the nuclear programme, we could easily do that,” he told reporters, insisting that Iran would never pursue nuclear weapons. He also accused Washington of pushing European allies to block a compromise.
US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said on Wednesday that Washington remained open to talks, but argued snapback sanctions were “the right medicine for what’s happening”.
While the measures are designed to escalate economic pressure, their global enforcement remains uncertain. Russia’s deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow considered the sanctions “null and void”.
The US and the E3 already maintain unilateral sanctions on Iran, including efforts to block its oil sales. Despite this, Chinese companies have continued to import Iranian crude, prompting US penalties against several Chinese entities.
The snapback restores sanctions suspended under the 2015 nuclear deal, brokered by former US President Barack Obama, which had offered Iran relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities. Former President Donald Trump later abandoned the accord, launching a “maximum pressure” campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a defiant UN address on Friday, urged swift enforcement of the sanctions and hinted at further Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear programme.
Pezeshkian, however, said Tehran would not respond by withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, warning that some powers were seeking “a superficial pretext to set the region ablaze”.
On Saturday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) marked the first anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, senior commander Abbas Nilforoushan, and others in Israeli air raids on Beirut. The IRGC declared that “active and smart resistance” was the only solution against Israeli “expansionism,” claiming that US and Israeli plans to dismantle Iran’s regional alliances had failed.
Meanwhile, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, attended commemorations in Lebanon, saying it was now clear that Israel “shows mercy to no country.”
Also on Saturday, Iran’s judiciary announced that four citizens were convicted of belonging to a “spy network” for Israel’s Mossad and the banned Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) group. Two were sentenced to death, while the other two received life imprisonment.
SMS/
