🎙 Remarks to the Press by Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Dmitry Polyanskiy on Iran's Nuclear Program (August 28, 2025)

💬 I want to make an important announcement. About an hour ago, Russia and China put into blue a draft Security Council resolution:

— Acknowledging the importance of finding a negotiated diplomatic solution to the issues related to resolution 2231 (2015),

— Recognizing the necessity of allowing additional time for negotiations on this matter,

— Decides to technically extend for 6 months, till 18 April 2026, the ten-year term after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Adoption Day, indicated in resolution 2231 (2015) and its Annexes, with a possibility for a further extension;

— Urges all initial participants of the JCPOA to immediately resume negotiations on the matters related to the resolution 2231 and the JCPOA.

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Now the world is at a crossroads. It’s quite clear.

👉 One option is peace, diplomacy, goodwill, normal human contact.

👉 Another option is a kind of diplomacy at the barrel of the gun, hence extortion and blackmail, and all other things. The second option is clearly represented by the action that was triggered today by France, the UK and Germany. You all know that they circulated a letter triggering “snapback”.

I will not explain this procedure to you in detail, I think everybody who is knowledgeable of this fact doesn’t have such a necessity. But I will say that this move by the European countries, in our view, has absolutely no legal bearing, because they were not implementing resolution 2231 in good faith.

For example, they did nothing in terms of lifting sanctions against Iran during the so-called Transition Day two years ago. They are acting absolutely in breach of the #JCPOA in each and every sense, in letter and in spirit of this document. They have not exhausted the mechanisms foreseen by the JCPOA, first and foremost the dispute resolution mechanism. Thus, we do not think that this move by these three countries should entail any action from the Council. This is our very strong and principled conviction.

Of course, it will affect the overall climate over the issues related to the Iranian nuclear program. It will complicate international cooperation in this regard. Thus, we think that the option proposed by Russia and China today is the way that everybody should follow in order to avoid complications, in order to avoid serious problems for international peace and security, in order to give some chance and breathing space for diplomacy.

So once again, we believe that the move by the E3 cannot and should not entail any legal or procedural effect. It’s a mere escalatory step. It’s something that is absolutely showing that the Western countries do not know what diplomacy is about. They don’t care about diplomacy. They care only about blackmail, threats and coercion vis-à-vis independent countries. <...>

❗️ Iran was always open to a diplomatic solution to this issue. The United States abandoned the JCPOA, and since then the situation started deteriorating. So, we should not confuse the real source of the problem, which is what happened in 2018. <...>

These countries that want to follow further on the path of escalation continue breaching international law. Maybe they still believe in the so-called “rules-based order,” but in their actions they show that this “international order” has nothing to do with international law — this is very obvious.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 We believe in common sense, we believe in peace, we believe in diplomacy, and the option that Russia and China are now providing for the whole world should lead us to this aim without further problems.

⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement regarding the UN Security Council vote on the draft resolution for the technical extension of the JCPOA

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On September 26, the UN Security Council held a vote on technically extending, in their entirety and for another six months, the mandate concerning the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (#JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme and Resolution 2231 which endorsed it.

The resolution stressed the importance of finding a negotiated diplomatic solution to the issues addressed by Resolution 2231, noting the need for more time for substantive dialogue. It also welcomed the agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed in Cairo on September 9, and provided a clear directive for continued engagement between the two parties.

A key element of the operative part of the Russian-Chinese draft was an urgent call on all initial JCPOA participants to resume negotiations on issues related to Resolution 2231 and the comprehensive agreements enshrined within it immediately.

🤝 We are grateful to Algeria and Pakistan for their resolute and energetic support of our efforts. We also note the stance of the Republic of Korea and Guyana, which, despite external pressure, did not vote against the draft.

The relevance of the resolution proposed by Russia and China was beyond doubt, given the rapid escalation of tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme.

The United Kingdom, Germany and France are stubbornly pursuing a path of escalation, intent on using illegitimate methods to achieve the reimposition of UN sanctions against Iran, which were lifted a decade ago. In line with their openly confrontational course, these three countries – together with the United States, which long ago announced its withdrawal from the JCPOA and embarked on a path of violating Resolution 2231 – opposed the initiative from Moscow and Beijing.

In doing so, this group has effectively rejected the path of diplomacy, making a definitive choice in favour of provocation, pressure, and threats. These Western actors cynically pressured the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council in a bid to co-opt them into a predatory, opportunistic, and fundamentally flawed policy. This approach leads to the destabilisation of international affairs and undermines the foundations of the international security system.

☝️ We are firmly convinced that the use of force to resolve issues in the field of nuclear non-proliferation must be excluded. Such methods are not only counterproductive and harmful but also dangerous as they lead to the exacerbation of disputes and their escalation into an uncontrollable conflict with tragic and irreversible consequences.

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Supporters of “maximum pressure” on Iran appear to be attempting to assuage their guilt over the June attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, and to impose on the international community the notion of a serious threat emanating from Tehran. For them, any progress or improvement in cooperation between Iran and the IAEA is an obstacle to promoting their aggressive anti-Iran agenda. This is not the first time that European states have acted to undermine Iran’s agreements with the IAEA.

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The United Kingdom, France and Germany have harmed not only the nuclear deal but also themselves by demonstratively violating Resolution 2231 and bypassing the agreed procedure. Consequently, neither their August 28 appeal in New York requesting snapback, nor the version of the resolution submitted by the presiding nation at their request, which was considered by the Security Council on September 19, could meet the stringent requirements of Resolution 2231.

❗️ Therefore, the so-called ‘snapback’ mechanism cannot be considered triggered. Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA remain in force and have not been cancelled. They retain their validity until October 18, 2025. The UN Secretariat has neither the reason nor the mandate to revise or deviate from the provisions of this resolution.

⚡️ Statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on the expiration of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (October 17, 2025)

On October 18, the ten-year period established by UN Security Council Resolution 2231 since the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (#JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program will expire.

At this point, the implementation of all provisions of Resolution 2231 should cease, including the restrictions and procedures it envisaged. The UN Security Council must conclude its consideration of matters related to the Iranian nuclear program. The item “Non-proliferation” should be removed from the Council’s agenda.

As these changes were pre-agreed when the JCPOA was concluded and endorsed by Resolution 2231, they are likewise reflected in the Presidential Decree of March 11, 2016, “On Measures to Implement UN Security Council Resolution No. 2231 of July 20, 2015”, the provisions of which remain in force strictly until the expiry of the established term.

Further development of Russian-Iranian cooperation in various fields will continue in full accordance with our national legislation and international obligations. 👉 A solid foundation for this is the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran, signed at the highest level in Moscow in January 2025 and entered into force on October 2, 2025.

We note that the aggressive attempts made by the European participants in the JCPOA to restore the UN Security Council’s sanctions resolutions against Iran – revoked under Resolution 2231 – have failed.

Contrary to their insistent but unfounded claims, the process of reimposing previous sanctions on Iran cannot be considered valid due to the serious violations of Resolution 2231 committed by the UK, Germany, and France, as well as their total disregard of the established procedures that were specifically designed to prevent such manipulation.

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With the expiration of Resolution 2231, the JCPOA itself – once rightly regarded as a major achievement of international diplomacy – also becomes history. In its early years, it quickly proved effective and credible, allowing the IAEA to fully close its outstanding questions regarding Iran.

The successful implementation of the JCPOA was intended to enable Tehran to fully exercise its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with the NPT and its obligations under the Treaty. After the JCPOA’s expiration, Iran’s nuclear program should be treated in the same manner as that of any other non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT.

October 18, 2025, is thus established as the official date of the expiration of Resolution 2231. No decisions reversing this have been adopted, while the Russia-China initiative to technically extend the JCPOA for six months was arrogantly rejected by the Western bloc, once again demonstrating its unwillingness to negotiate and its reliance on unlawful methods and brute force. Control over Iran’s nuclear activities will henceforth be exercised solely on the basis of the NPT and the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement between Iran and the IAEA.

❗️The Russian Side remains firmly committed to a political and diplomatic settlement of issues surrounding the Iranian nuclear program and calls on all parties involved to focus their efforts on finding necessary solutions in order to prevent a new, uncontrolled escalation of tensions that could have serious consequences for regional and international security. We stand ready to fully assist in these efforts.

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🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting media corporation (Moscow, December 15, 2025)

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Key points:

• Throughout history, Europe has repeatedly been a source of all evil and spawn of deepest crises. <...> Europe is now trying again to dictate to everyone its terms and wishes which seem to be connected with the Ukraine crisis.

• Europe is using it to assert itself, to throw sand in the wheels and scheme against the United States and all those who seek a just settlement.

• The theory and practices of Nazism are being resurrected in Europe, primarily in Brussels but also in Berlin, London, Paris, not to mention the Baltic States.

• Europe is waging a war with us once again with Ukrainians under a Nazi flag, <...> pumping Ukraine with increasingly more modern weapons.

• One of major purposes [of the new US National Security Strategy] is to make Europe know its place and to prevent it from imposing its liberal ways

• The United States wants to set up its policy for opposing China. <...> We are not against competition, however, it should be fair.

• Europeans have theft running in their blood, which we can see from the example of “frozen” Russian assets. By the way, Iranian assets are also partially frozen like Venezuelan assets and assets of many other countries.

• The West, including the United States, do not always has enough power to maintain its domination, and thus they have to resort to dirty, anti-democratic and anti-market methods.

• The West is planning and trying to split the group of the five Caspian states and impose decisions which will not get a consensus of the Caspian countries.

• The second outrageous example is Palestine. Not only was the UN Security Council resolution violated in this case, but also a great number of resolutions of both the Security Council and the UN General Assembly.

• The last year’s developments around the Iranian nuclear programme, the absolutely outrageous illegitimate actions by Europeans, the attempts to put the blame on the Islamic Republic of Iran for the collapse of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (#JCPOA), <...> reaffirms that the entire world order is being subject to most severe tests.

• When Iran was attacked by Israel followed by the United States, we condemned those actions as having absolutely nothing to do with international legality. The key is that so far no one has offered any clear evidence that Iran has violated something, neither the IAEA, nor the Israelis, nor the Americans.

• Russia is firm in its commitment to ensuring the Islamic Republic of Iran its unconditional right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, just as any other country.

• Russia and Iran signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty. We will always support Iran and promote its legitimate rights.

• Our bilateral plans [with Iran] are serious enough as are our plans of cooperation in the world arena. I mean in #BRICS, the #SCO and the #EAEU. This includes the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

• We are also engaged in investment cooperation. In addition to the North–South corridor, there is also such a flagship project as the Bushehr NPP – its construction is ongoing.

• There is a promising format that will help strengthen security in the [Middle East] – I am referring to the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (#GCC).

• There is the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, and we want to work with the Islamic Republic of Iran and with other neighbouring countries, including within this organisation’s framework.

• In recent months, the Islamist Republic has made it clear that it is not seeking war or new conflicts.

• In the United States and certain countries of Europe <...> there are people who have been speaking out in favour of reviving the arms limitation and control frameworks, including transparency measures. Iran and Russia have been proactive in backing this approach.