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UN Security Council (archive image)
Photo: CARLO ALLEGRI / REUTERS
The reinstatement of the punitive measures pursued by the US government is "not legally competent": Germany, Great Britain and France continue to oppose the dispute with the US over the UN sanctions against Iran.
The UN ambassadors of the three European countries emphasized in a letter to the President of the UN Security Council in New York that they do not see the USA in the legal position to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism.
This opinion shared a large part of the most powerful UN body, it said.
The contract concluded with the Islamic Republic in 2015 should continue to be fully implemented.
The nuclear deal should prevent Tehran from building an atomic bomb, while Iran should benefit from economic cooperation.
The US unilaterally terminated the agreement in 2018.
"Snapback" is a possibility for the member states of the nuclear agreement to denounce Iranian rule violations before the Security Council.
This means that all UN sanctions from the time before the agreement can be reinstated within 30 days - without other members being able to prevent this with a veto.
In their opinion, the USA did this in August, which is why they consider the snapback to be completed on the night of next Sunday.
It is unclear how the US will react if most countries do not follow it on the matter: 13 of the 15 members of the Security Council believe that the US will no longer be entitled to take the step after leaving.
The US government countered that it was entitled to the initiative because the United States was involved in the 2015 UN resolution on the nuclear agreement.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo justified the activation of the snapback mechanism in August with "significant" Iranian violations of the nuclear agreement.
The governments of Germany, France, Great Britain had already declared at the time that the USA was not authorized to do this.
Pompeo accused the European states of having "sided with the Ayatollahs".
Like the USA, France and Great Britain are permanent members of the Security Council; Germany is currently a temporary member there.
The three European countries are among the signatory states to the nuclear agreement with Iran.
The administration of US President Donald Trump started the initiative to activate the snapback mechanism after it failed in the Security Council with a draft resolution for an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran.
This expires in October.
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kha / dpa / Reuters