Russia says return of UN sanctions on Iran risk fueling tensions

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country will not surrender or bow to excessive demands after the UN Security Council voted against permanently lifting sanctions on Tehran.

“Last night, they decided to (trigger) the snapback (mechanism). They may close off paths, but minds and ideas create new ones. They cannot stop us…We will never surrender or bow to excessive demands,” he said.

“They can hit Natanz and Fordow, but it is the people who built them and will build Natanz and things far more important than Natanz,” Pezeshkian added.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh accused Britain, France and Germany of seeking a pretext to escalate tensions after triggering the snapback mechanism to restore UN sanctions on Iran.

“The European troika are providing a pretext for further tensions, and these three countries must be cautious,” he said in remarks to Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen.

“The window of diplomacy is still open, and diplomacy is always more attractive than escalating tensions,” he added.

Writing in Kayhan, Shariatmadari argued that two decades of negotiations had failed to protect Iran’s nuclear facilities from attacks, saying that “remaining in the NPT no longer makes sense” and that Iran’s only option was to strengthen deterrence.

“Those who say that if we leave the NPT it will pave the way for an attack must answer two questions. First, did they not attack our nuclear facilities while we were in the NPT? Second, does not America insist that attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities should not be prohibited? … So what are you waiting for?” he wrote.

The 15-member UN Security Council on Friday opted not to permanently lift sanctions on Tehran, after Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process last month to reimpose them, accusing Iran of failing to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal.

Shariatmadari dismissed the return of UN sanctions under the so-called snapback mechanism as “an empty shell” compared with US secondary sanctions.

“For years Iran’s economy has been under the pressure of Washington’s multilayered sanctions, which are far broader and harsher than the UN’s restrictions," he wrote.

"The snapback (mechanism) neither brings extra sanctioning power nor grants a fresh license for war,” he wrote.

Lawmakers warn of NPT pullback

Shariatmadari’s call was echoed by lawmakers who also warned Iran could scale back its cooperation with international nuclear agreements.

"We warn the countries that exploit Iran's goodwill for 'dialogue' and close the doors of diplomacy to themselves that 'maximum pressure' never works, and this time they will regret it harder than ever," said Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

Another lawmaker, Fada-Hossein Maleki, said the country was prepared to scale back cooperation with international bodies. "The Islamic Republic is prepared for any scenario, including withdrawal from the agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and even seriously considering withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," he said.

Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the hardline daily Kayhan, has called for Iran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) following the UN Security Council’s decision not to permanently lift sanctions.

Writing in Kayhan, Shariatmadari argued that two decades of negotiations had failed to protect Iran’s nuclear facilities from attacks, saying that “remaining in the NPT no longer makes sense” and that Iran’s only option was to strengthen deterrence.

“Those who say that if we leave the NPT it will pave the way for an attack must answer two questions. First, did they not attack our nuclear facilities while we were in the NPT? Second, does not America insist that attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities should not be prohibited? … So what are you waiting for?” he wrote.

“The only way to preserve Iran’s territorial integrity and national security is to acquire nuclear weapons,” said a member of the parliament’s presiding board.

“Withdrawing from the NPT, adopting a policy of ambiguity and ultimately testing the atomic bomb is the only option that can spare Iran the fate of Iraq and Libya,” said Ahmad Naderi.

“Experience has shown that countries without nuclear deterrence eventually become victims of invasion or regime change. The time has come to make hard but necessary decisions.”