The letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council says the three European powers are “committed to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon” unless Tehran meets the deadline.
The foreign ministers from the so-called E3 group threaten to use a “snapback mechanism” that was part of a 2015 international deal with Iran that eased UN Security Council sanctions.
Under the deal, which terminates in October, any party to the accord can restore the sanctions.
All three have stepped up warnings to Iran about its suspension of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
That came after Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June, partly seeking to destroy its nuclear capability. The United States staged its own bombing raid during the war.
“We have made clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” foreign ministers Jean-Noel Barrot of France, David Lammy of Britain and Johann Wadephul of Germany said in the letter.
All three countries were signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with the United States, China and Russia .
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the accord in 2018 during his first term and ordered new sanctions.
The European countries said they would stick to the accord. But their letter sets out engagements that the ministers say Iran has breached, including building up a uranium stock more than 40 times the permitted level under the 2015 deal.
“The E3 remain fully committed to a diplomatic resolution to the crisis caused by Iran’s nuclear programme and will continue to engage with a view to reaching a negotiated solution.
“We are equally ready, and have unambiguous legal grounds, to notify the significant non-performance of JCPOA commitments by Iran … thereby triggering the snapback mechanism, should no satisfactory solution be reached by the end of August 2025,” the ministers wrote in the letter first reported by the Financial Times.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister: Iran ready to accept limitations in exchange for sanctions removal
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, in an interview with a Japanese media outlet, said that his country is ready to negotiate and accept certain limitations if sanctions are lifted.
However, he emphasized that the issue of zero uranium enrichment on Iranian soil is non-negotiable. According to Iranian officials, domestic uranium enrichment is essential, and the country must rely on its own capabilities for peaceful purposes.
Other Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, have also reiterated that Iran is willing to engage in negotiations and seek diplomatic solutions to its nuclear issue.
Iran has held five rounds of indirect talks with the United States and was on the verge of a sixth round when Israel launched an attack, accusing Tehran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Iran has consistently denied such allegations, citing ethical and religious reasons for not pursuing nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never found evidence indicating that Iran is close to developing a nuclear bomb.
