Russia is raising the volume while Europe moves to reimpose tough UN penalties on Tehran. The familiar script is back: blame Trump as Iran accelerates enrichment and pushes inspectors away, hoping the world looks the other way.
Moscow’s charge came as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany notified the UN Security Council that they had triggered the snapback mechanism, a process that brings back severe UN sanctions within thirty days after Iran’s non-compliance with the nuclear deal.
“The United States abandoned JCPOA, and since then the situation started \[to] deteriorate,” said Russia’s UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy. He argued Washington is to blame for Tehran’s breaches.
“We should not confuse the real source of the problem that happened in 2018,” he added.
For years, Trump warned the regime could not be trusted. European capitals and the UN’s nuclear watchdog claimed Iran did not expand its program until later, but Tehran then advanced enrichment and defiance. The facts now include enormous stockpiles and blocked access for inspectors.
“We all know that the measures that were taken by Iran in terms of uranium enrichment, they were taken in response to the U.S. withdrawal from JCPOA,” Polyanskiy said. “And these measures can easily be reviewed.”
Russia and China floated a draft Security Council resolution to stretch the nuclear deal’s timeline by six months, seeking to delay pressure on Tehran. European officials doubt an extension will work, noting Iran refused a similar idea raised by E3 negotiators recently.
Polyanskiy argued the “move by E3 cannot and should not entail any legal or procedural effect.”
“It’s a mere escalatory step,” he continued. “Western countries…don’t care about diplomacy, and they care only about, blackmail and, threats, and coercion of independent countries.”
A UK official said there has been “very intense diplomacy” over the last “12 months, 6 months, 6 weeks,” including a proposal earlier that all JCPOA participants, even Moscow and Beijing, supported. Iran rejected it.
Washington has urged partners to reinforce snapback since leaving the deal, even though the United States gave up the technical lever to trigger it directly. Evidence of Iran’s violations has piled up: reports of up to 45 times the permitted enriched uranium, advanced centrifuges running, and the IAEA denied access to nuclear sites.
Tehran has leaned on Moscow and Beijing to stall sanctions while nuclear talks with Europeans sputter. Senior officials from those regimes gathered in Beijing to align strategy, underscoring how Iran seeks cover from authoritarian partners against Western enforcement.
Another hard fact focuses minds in the region: a recent U.S. operation, known as Operation Midnight Hammer, struck Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, and imagery showed visible damage. That action signaled that patience with Tehran’s games is running out.
“The world is at a crossroads,” Polyanskiy said. “It’s quite clear. One option is peace, diplomacy and goodwill. Another option is…diplomacy at the barrel of the gun…extortion and blackmail,” he added.
Here is the bottom line for conservatives: appeasement failed, enforcement works. Trump called out this bad deal and its loopholes, and events have proven his skepticism right. With Europe moving to restore sanctions and America pressing accountability, the free world is choosing strength—standing firm against Tehran’s defiance and refusing to reward threats.