Iran Threatens to Exit NPT if 'Snapback' Mechanism is Activated

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Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi stated that if the UN Security Council's sanctions snapback against Iran is triggered, Tehran could choose to leave the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), according to a senior lawmaker, The Caspian Post reports citing IRNA.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Tuesday, committee spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei said Takht-Ravanchi and Deputy Foreign Minister for International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi attended the meeting to discuss the latest discussions surrounding the 2015 nuclear agreement.

“According to Takht-Ravanchi, regarding Iran's countermeasures in the event the snapback mechanism is triggered, one option is to withdraw from the NPT,” Rezaei said.

He said the topic of the meeting was the recent negotiations between Iran and the three European countries of Britain, France, and Germany, which were held in Geneva.

Iran and five world powers—the US, China, Russia, France, Britain, and Germany—inked the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2015. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to limit certain aspects of its nuclear program in exchange for the termination of international sanctions on the country.

However, the former US administration of Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the deal in 2018 and targeted the Iranian economy with what he called the “maximum pressure” campaign.

“The Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs said that after Trump withdrew from the JCPOA, the Europeans did not fulfill their commitments. [In Geneva], we were trying first to determine the framework for the talks, and we are still a long way from negotiations,” Rezaei said.

He further quoted Takht-Ravanchi as saying that the two sides also discussed other issues, including the Palestinian and Lebanese issues and the Ukraine conflict.