Iran summons ambassadors of E3 over closed-door UN meeting on nuclear program

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in protest against their cooperation with the United States in convening a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council regarding Iran's nuclear program.

The meeting, held on Wednesday, was criticized by Iran as an "abuse of Security Council mechanisms."

The summons was issued by Mohammad Hassan-Nejad Pirkouhi, Director-General for Peace and International Security at Iran's Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting, Pirkouhi cited the "irresponsible and provocative" actions of the three European countries, emphasizing that Iran's peaceful nuclear program complies with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He criticized the closed UN Security Council session as lacking legal and technical justification, labeling it as a politically motivated move influenced by the US's unilateral policies.

The summons comes amid rising tensions after the United States called on the UN Security Council to confront Iran over its nuclear program, accusing Tehran of violating IAEA safeguards and defying the Council.

The closed-door meeting was called by six of the council's 15 members - the US, France, Greece, Panama, South Korea and Britain.

Additionally, the United Kingdom has signaled its readiness to trigger the snapback mechanism—a process to reinstate UN sanctions if Iran does not curb its uranium enrichment.

Concerns were amplified following the February IAEA report which revealed that Iran had accumulated 275 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a level far exceeding civilian needs.

With the UN's sanctions relief from the 2015 nuclear deal set to expire in October, European powers have indicated that they may resort to the snapback mechanism if diplomacy fails to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear capabilities.