Tahir Mustafa
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed by Iran and the P5+1 group of countries expired on October 18, 2025. Originally signed on July 25, 2015, it came into effect when UN Security Council resolution 2231 was passed on October 18, 2015. It declared all previous UN-imposed sanctions on Iran null and void. Resolution 2231 was valid for 10 years.
The Islamic Republic of Iran officially notified UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and through him the Security Council that resolution 2231 expired on October 18, 2025. In his letter to the UN chief as well as to the council president Vassily Nebenzia, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that the JCPOA expired with the end of the 10-year period of SC resolution 2231 pursuant to its operative paragraph 8.
Araghchi declared as “devoid of any legal basis” attempts by the three European signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—Britain, France and Germany—to revive and reinstate previously terminated UN sanctions resolutions against the Islamic Republic. He made Iran’s position clear: Resolution 2231 has “definitively expired and terminated” in accordance with its own provisions.
“As detailed in the joint letter of the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation dated 28 August 2025 (A/79/1004-S/2025/546), the European parties’ attempt to invoke the so-called ‘notification’ is procedurally defective and substantively void,” he wrote.
“No measure taken in disregard of resolution 2231 can generate legal obligations for Member States. The Security Council’s voting record and the clear positions expressed by its members confirm that the so-called ‘notification’ has no legal validity. Accordingly, any claim of ‘reviving’ or ‘reinstating’ terminated resolutions is void ab initio, lacking legal foundation and incapable of producing a binding effect.”
Araghchi emphasized that the procedure pursued by the European trio constituted a clear abuse of process, contrary to both the letter and spirit of resolution 2231 and the JCPOA.
Security Council resolution 2231 signalled, at least theoretically, the collective agreement of the signatories as well as members of the Security Council that diplomacy and multilateral engagement are the most effective means of addressing disputes.
Unfortunately, neither the US nor its European allies had any intention of honouring their commitments. Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit uranium enrichment to 3.67% and shipped out all of its enriched uranium. It even sealed some of its enrichment facilities and allowed intrusive unannounced inspections of its nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). No other country has ever been subjected to such intrusive inspections.
In return, all UN sanctions imposed on Iran were to be lifted. Additionally, normal trade and investment was to commence between Iran and the European states. The Americans not only failed to live up to their obligations but they also pressured European banks to not deal with the Islamic Republic.
Then, in May 2018, Donald Trump in his first term as president, unilaterally withdrew from the agreement. He reimposed and expanded the unlawful unilateral and extraterritorial sanctions. “These coercive measures constituted a grave breach of international law and the UN Charter, and severely obstructed the implementation of the JCPOA,” Araghchi said in his letter to the Security Council.
“The European participants, namely, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, while initially pledging to preserve the agreement and counterbalance the US withdrawal, not only failed to honor their own commitments but imposed additional unlawful sanctions on Iranian nationals and entities, thereby committing further material violations of the JCPOA.”
Despite these clear violations of the letter and spirit of the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic continued to abide by its terms for a full year after the US withdrawal. This was done in the hope that the Europeans would fulfill their obligations. Such hopes were dashed because the Americans and the Europeans, as pathological liars, are incapable of complying with any agreement.
Faced with such duplicity and non-compliance by the European trio, Iran announced that it was no longer obliged to restrict its enrichment to 3.67%. It did not, however, end cooperation with the IAEA and allowed its inspectors to verify that Tehran was not diverting any uranium to make a bomb.
This nonsensical allegation of Iran making a bomb was first made by Benjamin Mileikowsky (aka Netanyahu) in 1996. The indicted war criminal has repeated it from every podium ever since without providing any shred of evidence. It must be stated for the record that zionist Israel has a stockpile of more than 200 nuclear weapons and refuses to allow any inspection of its nuclear facilities.
As Security Council resolution 2231 was nearing its end, the European resorted to further mischief. They invoked the “snapback” mechanism, completely illegally, accusing the Islamic Republic of being in violation of its obligations under the JCPOA. That they themselves never fulfilled their obligations was conveniently ignored. Further, the dispute resolution procedure outlined in the JCPOA was not followed before invoking the “snapback” mechanism.
The trio went directly to the Security Council on August 28 demanding invocation of the “snapback” mechanism. The UN Security Council failed on September 19 to continue the suspension of sanctions on Iran that had allowed relief under the JCPOA. Another attempt by Russia and China, both JCPOA signatories, at the Security Council on September 26 to delay sanctions and give diplomacy a chance also failed. Both Russia and China stated that the European trio were acting in bad faith.
In 2020, the Council had confirmed that the US lacked standing to invoke the mechanism after its withdrawal in 2018. The European trio’s notification is similarly devoid of legal basis and effect.
“It cannot serve as a ground for any action or determination concerning the status of resolution 2231 or the previously terminated sanctions resolutions,” Araghchi said in his letter to the Council. He emphasized that the procedure pursued by the European trio constituted a clear abuse of process, contrary to both the letter and spirit of resolution 2231 and the JCPOA.
In any case, with the end of the 10-year period, neither the JCPOA nor SC resolution 2231 has any effect. Both are null and void and Iran is under no obligation to abide by their terms.
Similarly, Tehran has announced that the IAEA inspection regime is over. The nuclear watchdog showed its bias when its board of directors meeting in Vienna in September refused to condemn zionist Israel and America’s attacks on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities. Such criminal disregard for international norms and failing to condemn attacks on nuclear facilities reflect the IAEA’s violation of its own charter.
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