TEHRAN – Two senior Russian senators have dismissed efforts by the European troika to reinstate sanctions against Iran as unfounded and invalid.

Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev and Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Council Grigory Karasin made the comments in a meeting with an Iranian parliamentary delegation. 

The Iranian parliamentary delegation, headed by Ebrahim Azizi, Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, is in Moscow to attend the 18th General Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Parliamentary Assembly.

Kosachev condemned the West’s hostile moves against Iran, saying Russia believes the credibility of the sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program ended on October 18, 2025 based on UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and that any attempts by the European countries to bring back those sanctions lacks any credibility.

Also recently, the ambassadors of Iran, Russia and China to the United Nations, in a joint letter to the president of the UN Security Council and the UN secretary general, underlined that all provisions of UNSC Resolution 2231 were terminated after October 18, 2025 under Operative Paragraph 8 of the same resolution.

Meanwhile, the countries reiterated their commitment to continuing their cooperation with UNSC member states.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, the People’s Republic of China and the Russia Federation remain fully committed to continuing their constructive diplomatic partnership with all members of the council, and announce their readiness to support collective efforts to safeguard the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” wrote the top three diplomats.

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 withdrew from the agreement and the other signatories which reneged on their commitments under the same deal.

In their joint letter, the ambassadors of Iran, Russia and China 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.