Iran, Russia, and China Send Joint Letter to Grossi
WANA (Oct 24) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs announced that the permanent representatives of Iran, Russia, and China have sent a joint letter to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi. In the letter, the three countries declared the activation of the so-called “snapback” mechanism by the European trio illegal and reaffirmed that all provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 expired on October 18.
Kazem Gharibabadi made the announcement on his X account, writing: “Following the joint letter by Iran, Russia, and China to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council declaring the termination of Resolution 2231, today, in continuation of the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic initiatives, the three countries’ ambassadors and permanent representatives to the IAEA sent a joint letter to the Agency’s Director General.”
According to Gharibabadi, the letter rejects the legitimacy of unilateral European actions aimed at reimposing sanctions, emphasizing that with the expiration of the ten-year term of Resolution 2231, all its provisions have come to an end and that there is no legal basis for the IAEA to continue its related reporting.
He further explained: “In the IAEA, verification and monitoring in Iran under Resolution 2231 and the implementation of the JCPOA were established based on the Board of Governors’ resolution of 15 December 2015. Operative paragraph 14 of that resolution explicitly stipulates that the Board decides to keep the issue on its agenda for ten years, or until the Director General issues a broader conclusion regarding Iran, whichever comes first. Therefore, as of October 18, the item is automatically removed from the Agency’s agenda, and no further action is required.”
The joint letter by Iran, Russia, and China marks another step in their coordinated diplomatic efforts to affirm the expiration of Resolution 2231 and to counter Western attempts to revive or extend the lapsed restrictions against Iran.
