TEHRAN – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the reinstatement of illegal sanctions against Iran by Europe amounts to a “disgrace for diplomacy.”

In an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), the top Russian diplomat said the Europeans, with their hostile moves, sought to blame the collapse of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tehran even though Iran never breached the agreement.

Lavrov noted the United States threw the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) “into the dustbin” by unilaterally withdrawing from it in 2018. Accordingly, he explained, the West followed suit and pointed the finger at Iran.?

For nearly two decades, Iran's peaceful nuclear program has been met with relentless opposition from the West. Pressure came in many forms, endless negotiations that went nowhere, punishing sanctions and even military action.

When the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites during the US-Israeli military aggression, the European trio, France, Germany and Britain, stepped in with their own strategy, activating the so-called snapback mechanism.

On August 29th, 2025, they triggered the countdown for the automatic return of UN sanctions on Iran. The move was immediately welcomed in Washington and Tel Aviv.

The term snapback refers to the automatic reinstatement of sanctions against Iran. It is a diplomatic process under UN Security Council resolution 2231, the resolution which endorsed the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers plus Germany.

Iran has said, time and again, that it has remained committed to the nuclear deal unlike the US which unilaterally pulled out of the agreement and the other signatories which reneged on their commitments under the same deal.

Recently, in a joint letter to the president of the UN Security Council, the ambassadors of Iran, Russia and China to the United Nations urged all relevant parties to remain committed to working out a political solution that would allay the concerns of all parties through engagement and political dialog based on the principles of mutual respect and to avoid resorting to force or any other action that might escalate the current situation.

In another letter in late August, Iran, China, and Russia had expressed their opposition to the European troika’s attempt to trigger the snapback mechanism.

"Our joint letter with my colleagues, the Foreign Ministers of China and Russia, signed in Tianjin reflects the firm position that the European attempt to invoke “snapback” is legally baseless and politically destructive. By declaring the E3’s move null and void, we have placed on record that no party can erase the sequence of events: it was the United States that first violated the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, and it was Europe that subsequently chose to align with unlawful sanctions instead of honoring its own commitments. These undeniable facts must frame any serious discussion at the Security Council," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.

Elsewhere in his interview, when asked whether Russia would stand by Iran if another war larger than the 12-day US-Israeli military aggression against Iran were to occur, Lavrov said Moscow has “strategic partnership” with Tehran and will always act in support of Iran and its legitimate rights.