The Threat Of UN Sanctions Makes Iran's Nuclear Program More Complicated

JAKARTA Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the re-implementation of international sanctions against Iran would make the "situation" related to its nuclear program even more complicated.

The statement was made ahead of a meeting on Friday with three European countries known as E3 - England, France, and Germany.

The E3 countries stated that if no progress was made by the end of August regarding Iran's nuclear program, they would implement a "snapback" process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran that had been lifted under a 2015 deal in exchange for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.

"We will convey our position regarding E3's comments on the snapshotback mechanism, which we think has no legal basis," Gharibabadi said, referring to a meeting on Friday in Istanbul.

"Meskipun demikian, upaya kami adalah untuk melihat apakah kami dapat menemukan solusi bersama untuk mengelola situasi ini," sambungnya.

The three European countries, together with China and Russia, are the remaining parties in the 2015 nuclear deal - which the United States withdrew in 2018.

"It's been seven years since the nuclear deal was implemented by European countries after the US withdrew. How can they argue that Iran did not comply with the deal even though they did not?" continued Gharibabadi.

Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is solely aimed at civilian purposes.