Iran called in diplomats from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany on Thursday to protest a recent UN Security Council session on Tehran’s nuclear program. The Iranian foreign ministry denounced the session as having no “technical or legal justification,” calling it “provocative and political,” and blaming it on the “unilateral and nervous approach of the United States.
The behind-closed-doors meeting, held by six of the 15 members of the council, namely the US, France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, and the UK, has attracted much attention. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear monitor, has cautioned that Iran is rapidly boosting its level of uranium enrichment to 60% purity, nearing the 90% mark for weapons-grade material.
Western countries contend that there is no valid reason why Iran should enrich uranium to such high levels for any civilian use, pointing out that no other nation has engaged in similar enrichment without the intention of making nuclear weapons. Iran, on the other hand, insists that its nuclear aspirations are peaceful.
In the statement of protest, the Iranian foreign ministry denounced the diplomats’ participation as collaboration with the US and decried the secrecy of the meeting about Iran’s nuclear program.
Before the council meeting, Britain said it would be willing to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran if needed to discourage the country from pursuing nuclear weapons. “We are clear that we will do any diplomatic steps to stop Iran gaining a nuclear weapon, including use of snapback sanctions if necessary,” Britain’s deputy UN Ambassador James Kariuki said.
Iran’s UN delegation accused the United States of trying to weaponize the UN Security Council to further heighten economic warfare against Iran and urged a refusal of such steps to save the council’s credibility. After the meeting, the US UN mission claimed that Iran is “the sole state in the world that does not have nuclear weapons creating highly enriched uranium, which it has no viable peaceful objective for,” calling on the council to denounce the action.
In 2015, Iran had achieved a historic deal regarding its nuclear program with the P5+1 nations (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States), which led to relaxed sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear pursuits. The situation went downhill in 2018 when then-US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal and reimposed tough sanctions.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has demanded a new nuclear agreement with Iran, even though Tehran claims that no deal can be done as long as sanctions are in place. Last month, Trump launched a “maximum pressure” campaign to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons but also said he was willing to negotiate with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Trump’s letter requesting nuclear negotiations was presented to Iran on Wednesday, but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei categorically rejected the idea of negotiations. Meanwhile, China is hosting a gathering on Friday in Beijing with Russia and Iran regarding the Iranian nuclear question, as both countries will send their deputy foreign ministers.
