Speakign at his weekly presser on Monday, Esmaeil Baghaei slammed the recent behavior of the three European countries involved in the nuclear talks, describing their stance as “irresponsible and obstructive.”

He said the European troika (UK, France, and Germany) misused the JCPOA’s dispute resolution mechanism to impose US demands on the UN Security Council, while their preconditions for Iran’s participation in negotiations were entirely unreasonable.

According to the spokesman, Iran engaged in constructive dialogue with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under its safeguard commitments and reached a new cooperation framework that satisfied the Agency. Although initially welcomed by Europe, the three countries later withdrew their support.

“Due to their unreasonable conditions, the Europeans failed to fulfill their role as negotiation partners,” the spokesman noted, adding that “future negotiations will certainly differ from the past.”

He noted that the action taken by the three European countries was driven more by stubbornness in implementing the United States’ demands than by rational calculation or consideration of legal dimensions, and it disregarded the interests, priorities, and credibility of these countries themselves as parties to the JCPOA.

Iran’s position on this matter is also supported by China and Russia, he continued, adding, "Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, quickly pointed out the illegality of this action. Iran has likewise formally expressed its protest and criticism regarding the Secretariat’s conduct in the Security Council."

"Based on this reasoning, the action of the three European countries creates no legal obligation for UN member states. It is expected that countries, in order to uphold the principles of the UN Charter, refrain from complying with this unlawful and imposed action by the three European countries on the structure of the Security Council," Baghaei stressed.

Referring to the recent visit of the Iranian delegation to New York, Baghaei referred to the meetings held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, saying, "We had an important meeting with the UN Secretary-General, during which we held frank and detailed discussions. In this meeting, we specifically addressed the action of the three European countries in misusing the UN Security Council and the JCPOA dispute resolution mechanism, and elaborated on the legal reasons why this move is illegitimate."

"The resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 regarding Iran’s nuclear issue were all passed either by consensus or at least without opposition from the permanent members of the Security Council. However, now at least two permanent members have opposed the reinstatement of the sanctions resolutions, which clearly indicates a lack of consensus. Therefore, no legal decision has been made by the Security Council," he explained, underlining that the European troika's action on reimposing the sanctions resolutions is, in fact, a unilateral move.

"According to Resolution 2231, all restrictions related to Iran’s nuclear program were supposed to expire by October 18, and the nuclear issue should be removed from the Council’s agenda," he emphasized.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the senior Iranian diplomat turned to the aggression carried out by the Israeli regime and the United States on Iran in June. He stressed that Iran holds the Zionist regime and the United States responsible for the illegal attacks against its peaceful nuclear facilities and territorial integrity.

The IAEA report, and the misuse of it by the three European countries and the United States to issue a resolution in the Board of Governors, created a pretext for these actions, he said, adding that while no IAEA report has provided evidence of any diversion of Iran’s nuclear program from its peaceful path, it was expected that the Agency would promptly condemn the actions of the Zionist regime and the United States.

He further explained that according to IAEA resolutions and the UN General Assembly, any attack on a country’s peaceful nuclear facilities is prohibited. "It is hoped that the recent events will serve as a lesson for the Agency and all relevant parties, preventing the political misuse of the technical authority of this institution," he cited.

Baghaei reiterated that Iran has always called on the IAEA to focus solely on its technical duties and mandates and avoid positions that may suggest influence by the United States or certain Western countries.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Baghaei told reporters that at this stage, Iran has no plans to negotiate with Washington and is focusing on examining the impacts and consequences of the actions taken by the  European troika and the US. "Diplomacy, as a process based on contacts and consultations, continues, and whenever Iran determines that diplomacy can be effective, decisions will be made based on national interests and priorities," he continued.

He noted that the statements by US officials expressing pride in committing a criminal action against Iran would only increases the United States’ international responsibility. "Acknowledging illegal actions does not lend any legitimacy to the US, but rather reaffirms to the international community and the Iranian nation that the United States is a law-breaking actor that does not adhere to accepted global rules."