Iranians walk past a billboard in the colors of the national Iranian flag with the inscription in Farsi: "The army sacrifices itself for the nation," on Valiasr Square in Tehran, Aug. 29, 2025. AFP Photo)
Iran on Sunday condemned the reinstatement of U.N. sanctions, ten years after they were lifted, amid ongoing disagreements with Western nations over the country's nuclear program. The heavy sanctions were reinstated Saturday after ongoing nuclear negotiations broke down. However, European and U.S. officials have maintained that this does not signal the end of diplomatic efforts.
Ranging from an arms embargo to economic measures, the sanctions have been in effect again since Sunday at 00:00 GMT following approval from the Security Council.
Iran's nuclear program has long caused a wedge between the country's relations with the West who, along with Israel, its sworn enemy, accuse Tehran of seeking to acquire an atomic bomb. Iran strongly denies this and insists on its right to civilian nuclear power, especially for electricity production.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will resolutely defend its rights and national interests, and any action that seeks to undermine the interests and rights of its people will receive an appropriate response," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. It denounced the "unjustifiable" return of the "illegal" U.N. sanctions and called on other countries to not implement them.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country enriching uranium at a high level (60 percent), where the technical threshold of 90 percent needed to make an atomic bomb.
The United Kingdom, France and Germany, a group known as the E3, triggered the "snapback" mechanism at the end of August, allowing sanctions lifted in 2015 after an international agreement on Iran's nuclear program (JCPOA) to be reinstated within 30 days.
“Unacceptable”
Even before the formal reinstatement of the sanctions, Iran on Saturday recalled its ambassadors from the three countries "for consultations," according to state television. London, Paris and Berlin have said they wish to continue seeking "a new diplomatic solution to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons" and called on Tehran "to refrain from any escalatory actions." U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Tehran to "accept direct talks in good faith," while calling on all states to "immediately" implement the sanctions to "put pressure" on Iran.
Before the sanctions took effect, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that the U.S. had demanded Iran hand over "all" its enriched uranium in exchange for a three-month extension of a sanctions suspension, calling the request "unacceptable."
High-level meetings multiplied throughout the week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution. But the European trio argued Tehran had not taken "concrete" steps to meet its three conditions: resumption of indirect talks with the United States; access for IAEA inspectors to sensitive nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordo and Isfahan, which Israel and the U.S. bombed in June; and a process to secure the stock of enriched uranium.
'Sabotage'
Russia and China unsuccessfully proposed at the U.N. Security Council on Friday to extend the JCPOA, which expires on Oct. 18, by six months to give diplomacy more time. In this context, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western nations on Saturday of "sabotaging" diplomacy, repeating that for Moscow, the decision to reinstate sanctions "cannot be implemented."
In 2015, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, Russia and China struck a deal with Tehran to oversee its nuclear activities in exchange for a gradual lifting of sanctions. The United States, under President Donald Trump’s first term, decided in 2018 to withdraw from the deal and reinstate its own sanctions. Iran then abandoned some of its commitments, particularly uranium enrichment. The 2015 deal capped uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent.
According to the IAEA, Iran has about 440 kilos of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a stock which, if enriched to 90 percent, could allow the country to produce eight to ten nuclear bombs, according to European experts.
