Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia on Iran's Nuclear Program
Point of order:
Mr. President,
We have to take the floor on a point of order due to attempt by certain delegations to push the Security Council into committing a gross violation of its decisions and procedures.
Our Western colleagues are trying to pass today's meeting off as a regular biannual discussion under the “Non-proliferation” agenda item to consider issues related to the implementation of UNSC resolution 2231, and discuss the relevant report of the UN Secretary-General. The Russian Federation categorically rejects such approaches. For those who are particularly forgetful, we would like to recall that all provisions of Security Council Resolution 2231 have ceased to be in effect on October 18, 2025, ten years after the date of adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). On that day, the Security Council stopped its consideration of Iran's nuclear program, and agenda item “Non-proliferation” was removed from the list of issues covered by the Security Council. These consensus-based decisions were enshrined in the text of UNSC resolution 2231. References procedures for removing items from the Council's agenda, as set out in Presidential note 507, are not relevant here.
Along with the expiration of Resolution 2231, the Presidential note S/2016/44 has, logically, also lost its relevance, according to which the UN Secretary-General was to prepare reports on the implementation of the resolution every six months, and the UN Security Council was supposed to meet to discuss them. Accordingly, neither the UN Secretariat nor the Council has relevant mandates any longer.
Western Security Council members are trying to create the illusion that today's meeting is routine in nature, but in vain, which is clearly evidenced by the fact that the current presidency did not dare to seek the inclusion of the meeting in the Security Council's approved program of work for December 2025.
Dear colleagues,
The convening of this meeting by the UK, France, and their backers in the Security Council has nothing to do with the Council’s mandated reporting cycle. Such a step is nothing more than a futile attempt to convince the international community that the European trio in the Council has harnessed the mechanism for reinstating anti-Iranian Security Council resolutions – the so-called “snapback” – and that resolution 2231 allegedly remains in effect. In their quest to push forward their agenda, they are prepared to deepen the divide within the Security Council, not only on political issues, but also on legal and procedural matters.
In this context, it is disappointing that our Slovenian colleagues have been unable to impartially uphold their presidential obligations and prevent the Security Council from holding a meeting on a non-existent agenda item. Their willingness to follow the lead of those who initiated today's discussion is a flagrant violation of the Council's earlier decisions and only undermines its credibility.
Thank you.
Main statement:
Mr. President,
Once again, we would like to express our regret that you did not summon the courage to approach your obligations impartially nor refused to act at the behest of those who insisted on holding this Security Council meeting on a non-existent agenda item. We categorically reject and condemn such actions by the Slovenian presidency, which undermine the UNSC authority and violate the Council’s earlier decisions.
Another gross violation would be a statement by a representative of the European Union in its capacity as coordinator of the JCPOA Joint Commission. This commission no longer exists. Therefore, the EU is no longer its coordinator and should not be allowed to brief the Security Council in that capacity.
Mr. President,
At the same time, it is telling that, neither in your capacity as President of the Security Council nor as Security Council facilitator on implementing resolution 2231, which you were until October 18, 2025, you didn’t even attempt to initiate work on negotiating the coordinator's biannual report or hold a traditional informal expert meeting of the Security Council in the “2231 format.” We view that as a testament to the fact that our Slovenian colleagues, despite their blatant bloc solidarity, are in fact fully aware how fallacious all the claims are that Resolution 2231 continues in effect.
Alas, today's briefing by USG Rosemary DiCarlo has once again demonstrated that the UN Secretariat’s leadership is not much different from Slovenia, as it has taken a biased and legally shaky position regarding discussions in the Security Council on Iran's nuclear program. With resolution 2231 being no longer in force, the UN Secretary-General's mandate to monitor its implementation is no longer pertinent as well, which we have repeatedly pointed out. Against this backdrop, the Secretary-General's unwarranted decision to prepare and publish the relevant report does not hold water.
In this context, we are also disappointed by other steps taken by the UN Secretariat, such as informing UN Member States about the so-called “restoration” of anti-Iran Security Council resolutions that were in force until 2015, as well as recreating the website of long-defunct 1737 Security Council Committee and reinstating the sanctions list of this committee. Such an encroachment upon the exclusive prerogatives of the Security Council and playing into the hands of UNSC Western members is nothing but a gross violation of the UN Charter – in particular, Article 100, which states that “In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority external to the Organization.” Moreover, all of the aforementioned actions by the Secretariat's leadership undermine not only the authority of the UN, but also international efforts to settle the situation around Iran's nuclear program, in which the Secretary-General, according to his own assurances, is keenly interested. We consider such self-initiated activity unacceptable.
Mr. President,
In 2025, Western countries finally threw off their masks of alleged champions of a political and diplomatic solution to the issue of Iran's nuclear program. If anyone still had doubts as to their true position, then this position has been revealed now once and for all.
At the beginning of this year, many of us pinned great hopes on resumed mediated contacts between Iran and the US on nuclear issues. There were five rounds of indirect talks, and the parties agreed to meet for the sixth round. However, two days before the meeting was due to take place, Israel opted for military escalation and struck Iranian territory, including civilian nuclear facilities that were under the IAEA safeguards. A week later, West Jerusalem was joined by Washington in this misadventure.
Not only did these actions jeopardize the security of the entire Middle East region, but also de facto wiped out any chance of reaching any agreement. Given this, the steps taken by the European trio of the JCPOA – the UK, France, and Germany – were nothing but the height of hypocrisy. Despite their previous statements about the inadmissibility of a military solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, these countries just turned on a dime and supported strikes against a sovereign state. I would like to quote what my UK colleague said in this chamber at the UNSC emergency meeting on June 22: “Military action alone cannot bring a durable solution to concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.” In other words, London was prepared to view military strikes and threats as a lever to resolve the crisis around Iran's nuclear program; thus, only to please its “big brother,” London fundamentally changed its position in just a few hours.
Have a think, colleagues: this was an attack not only on Iran, but also on the entire NPT architecture and the IAEA safeguards system underpinning it. Moreover, the E3, the US, and other Western countries went so far as to directly distort the content of the IAEA Director General's reports on Iran's nuclear program, which never, and in no context, mentioned converting material for military purposes. Any attempts to blame Tehran for its defensive steps in the nuclear sphere are doomed to failure and can impress only amateurs; all these steps were taken purely in response to the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the nuclear “deal” in 2018 and to the obstruction by the “E3” of the deal’s implementation. Anyone who knows the slightest bit about this matter perfectly understands that neither the NPT nor the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) impose any restrictions upon the parties to the Treaty on enriching uranium, provided that all material is solely used for peaceful purposes.
Over the past few months, it became absolutely clear that the E3 was also completely non-viable as a participant in the negotiation process on Iran. Initially, these countries sought to play the “snapback” card. But they did not succeed: their plans were thwarted when our country along with a number of other member states presented to the international community their convincing legal analysis, explaining that, due to their numerous violations of the JCPOA and Security Council Resolution 223, the E3 forfeited its right to use the instruments stipulated therein. Furthermore, the so-called “notification” on the launch of the “snapback” mechanism was sent by our British, French, and German colleagues in circumvention of the procedures provided for in the JCPOA – in particular, without invoking nor exhausting the dispute resolution mechanism. Therefore, as any conscientious lawyer will confirm, no assertions by the former European participants in the JCPOA can replace the reality in which there has been no restoration of the anti-Iranian Security Council resolutions whatsoever.
Then the E3 demonstrated its utter inability to act and make decisions independently. The interim “solution” agreed upon “on the sidelines” of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week between Iran and European countries, which suited both sides, ‘crashed’ against the position of the US, which nullified its initial parameters advanced by the E3. But the E3 pretended, however, that nothing happened. And even after this humiliation, the Europeans did not summon the courage to support the depoliticized Russian-Chinese draft resolution on a technical extension of Resolution 2231, which would have given additional time to find a negotiated solution without causing a legal “vacuum” following the expiration of the JCPOA.
Given this powerlessness, we are not surprised by the attempts of the UK, France, and Germany to try with renewed vigor to convince everyone around them that the “snapback” has indeed been triggered. However, for all the attempts of our Western colleagues to create their own “parallel reality,” the actual situation leaves them no chance of doing so. The Security Council resolutions adopted through 2006-2015 have not been reinstated. Resolution 2231 expired on October 18. The Iranian nuclear program has been removed from the UN Security Council's agenda. Let us not forget that the objectives of the Council's previous sanctions resolutions concerning Iran have long been achieved, which is documented by the IAEA. Under the current circumstances, the previous restrictions are not viable and cannot be applied to address the current problems having to do with the Agency's monitoring activities in Iran, especially since those problems arose not because of Tehran, but because of US-Israeli acts of aggression. All these things further emphasize the unviability of any intentions to reestablish the “sanctions regime.”
We would urge our American and European colleagues, as well as the UN Secretariat, to stop living in a world of illusions and to rectify their unlawful and deeply erroneous course. The Russian Federation will consistently quell any attempts to further undermine the normal work of the Security Council or call into question its earlier decisions, and mislead the international community.
If the US, EU countries, and their allies really want to eradicate doubts they themselves have vis-à-vis the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, they must abandon their biased, politicized attitudes towards Iran and instead of trying to exert “maximum pressure” on this country they need to engage in real dialogue with it. Tehran has repeatedly demonstrated its readiness to have fair and equal discussion, and has outlined the parameters for such a conversation that would be agreeable to it. Russia remains ready to assist any genuine attempts at finding a political and diplomatic solution to this issue. We would urge everyone to focus on these very attempts rather than building castles in the air and indulging in phantom limb pains over Resolution 2231, which has ceased to be in force.
Thank you.
