UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Friday rejected another last-ditch effort to delay the reimposition of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program a day before the deadline and after Western countries claimed that weeks of meetings failed to result in a “concrete” agreement.
The resolution put forth by Russia and China — Iran’s most powerful and closest allies on the 15-member council — failed to garner support from the nine countries required to halt the series of UN sanctions from taking effect Saturday, as outlined in Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
“We had hoped that European colleagues and the US would think twice, and they would opt for the path of diplomacy and dialogue instead of their clumsy blackmail, which merely results in escalation of the situation in the region,” Dmitry Polyanskiy, the deputy Russian ambassador to the UN, said during the meeting.
Barring an eleventh-hour deal, the reinstatement of sanctions — triggered by Britain, France and Germany — will once again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures. That will further squeeze the country’s reeling economy.
The move is expected to heighten already magnified tensions between Iran and the West. It’s unclear how Iran will respond, given that in the past, officials have threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, potentially following North Korea, which abandoned the treaty in 2003 and then built atomic weapons.
Four countries — China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria — once again supported giving Iran more time to negotiate with the European countries, known as the E3, and the United States, which unilaterally withdrew from the accord with world powers in 2018.
“The UShas betrayed diplomacy, but it is the E3 which have buried it,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the vote. “This sordid mess did not come about overnight. Both the E3 and the US have consistently misrepresented Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.”
The European leaders triggered the so-called “snapback” mechanism last month after accusing Tehran of failing to comply with the conditions of the accord and when weeks of high-level negotiations failed to reach a diplomatic resolution.
Lots of diplomacy as deadline nears
Since the 30-day clock began, Araghchi, has been meeting with his French, British and German counterparts to strike a last-minute deal, leading up to this week’s UN General Assembly gathering. But those talks appeared futile, with one European diplomat telling the Associated Press on Wednesday that they “did not produce any new developments, any new results.”
Therefore, European sources “expect that the snapback procedure will continue as planned.”
Even before Araghchi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New York on Tuesday for the annual gathering, remarks from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that peace talks with the United States represent “a sheer dead end” constrained any eleventh-hour diplomatic efforts from taking place.
Iranian officials have defended their position over the last several weeks, saying that they’ve put forward “multiple proposals to keep the window for diplomacy open.” On Friday, Araghchi said in a social media post that “the E3 has failed to reciprocate” efforts, “while the US has doubled down on its dictates.” He urged the Security Council to vote in favor of an extension to provide the “time and space for diplomacy.”
European nations have said they would be willing to extend the deadline if Iran complies with a series of conditions. Those include resumption of direct negotiations with the US over its nuclear program, allowing UN nuclear inspectors access to its nuclear sites, and accounts for the more than 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of highly enriched uranium the UN watchdog says it has.
Nuclear inspectors said to be currently in Iran
Of all the nations in the world that don’t have nuclear weapons programs, Iran is the only nation in the world that enriches uranium up to 60 percent — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.
Earlier this month, the UN nuclear watchdog and Iran signed an agreement mediated by Egypt to pave the way for resuming cooperation, including on ways of relaunching inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, Iran has threatened to terminate that agreement and cut all cooperation with the IAEA should UN sanctions be reimposed.
Iran has been wary of giving full access to inspectors following the 12-day war with Israel in June that saw both the Israelis and the Americans bomb Iranian nuclear sites, throwing into question the status of Tehran’s stockpile of uranium enriched nearly to weapons-grade levels.
But a diplomat close to the IAEA confirmed on Friday that inspectors are currently in Iran where they are inspecting a second undamaged site, and will not leave the country ahead of the expected reimposition of sanctions this weekend. IAEA inspectors earlier watched a fuel replacement at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Aug. 27 and 28.
The Europeans have said this action alone is not enough to halt the sanctions from coming into place Saturday.
![]()
UN Security Council rejects Russia and China’s last-ditch effort to delay Iran sanctions
Short Url
https://arab.news/nm4bh
UN Security Council rejects Russia and China’s last-ditch effort to delay Iran sanctions
- Western countries claim weeks of meetings failed to result in a “concrete” agreement
- Series of UN sanctions due to take effect Saturday, as per 2015 nuclear deal
The French village where Ayatollah Khomeini fomented Iran’s revolution
NEAUPHLE-LE-CHATEAU: It has been nearly 50 years since the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini recorded speeches calling for an Islamic revolution from a country home in an affluent village west of Paris.
But the inhabitants of Neauphle-le-Chateau have still not got over their famous guest, as the US-Israeli war against Iran puts the spotlight back on the ayatollah’s legacy.
Khomeini, the original spiritual guide of Iran’s modern theocracy, spent barely 120 days ensconced in a villa in the village 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the French capital, before returning in a blaze of publicity to complete the ousting of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in the Iranian Revolution in early 1979.
Andre, an 86-year-old neighbor of the house that was briefly Khomeini’s headquarters, recalled the sudden storm that hit sleepy Neauphle-le-Chateau in the Yvelines department.
“One evening on the television, they announced that an ayatollah had set up home in a comfortable district in the Yvelines,” said the retired engineer, who declined to give his family name but has lived in the village since 1974.
“From the Saturday morning, there was an invasion of journalists. They were parked everywhere.”
Neauphle-le-Chateau, which is just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Versailles palace, soon became a major draw. “The number of people that the ayatollah would receive, especially the young Iranians who studied in Germany,” said Andre.
“It was incredible. He organized the whole Iranian revolution from Neauphle-le-Château.”
Revolutionary exile
Khomeini, then 76, needed a new bolthole after being expelled from his exiled base in the Iraqi city of Najaf by the country’s dictator Saddam Hussein.
“The only place an Iranian could go to without a visa was France,” said Bernard Hourcade, a specialist on Iran at the CNRS, France’s main research institute.
Abolhassan Banisadr, a future president of the Islamic Republic, at first offered accommodation at Cachan, southeast of Paris. But then a friend offered the house west of the capital and Neauphle-le-Chateau became internationally famous.
The ayatollah arrived on October 6, 1978 and left France again on February 1, 1979. He died in Iran in 1989.
According to Hourcade, one of Khomeini’s main activities at the house was to record speeches condemning the shah and calling for revolution, which were recorded on cassettes and secreted into Iran.
Michel, an 87-year-old resident, who also did not want to give his family name, recalled the “police checks” and “blocked roads” during the ayatollah’s stay.
“We weren’t bothered by his presence, but the neighbors on Chevreuse road (where the ayatollah lived) were quite inconvenienced.”
Some, like former resident Alain Simonneau, 80, played down the ayatollah’s role in the history of the village. “It was a minor event for Neauphle-le-Chateau, even if it’s part of our collective memory, whether we like it or not.”
But Lydie Kadiri, who arrived in 1999, said it is a part of history that everyone remembers. “When we say we come from Neauphle-le-Château, everyone immediately remembers the ayatollah!” she said.
The destiny of the house where the ayatollah stayed is another mystery.
The home was destroyed in an explosion in February 1980, a few months after the ayatollah’s death. Other buildings have since been erected.
“One evening, I heard an explosion and suddenly, everything burst into flames. The house shook from the blast. Some glass was cracked in my hall,” recalled Andre.
For some years, a signboard stood on the land where the house had been, signalling the link between Iran’s original spiritual guide and the village. This was vandalized in 2023.
Now pilgrimages are held each year to mark his return to Iran on February 1, 1979.
Khomeini’s successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the US-Israeli air strikes on Iran.
A Neauphle-le-Chateau resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that between 150 and 200 people came each year with Iran’s ambassador “to celebrate the anniversary” of Khomeini’s return to Iran.
In Tehran, a road is named after Neauphle-le-Chateau. The French embassy is located on the street.
But the inhabitants of Neauphle-le-Chateau have still not got over their famous guest, as the US-Israeli war against Iran puts the spotlight back on the ayatollah’s legacy.
Khomeini, the original spiritual guide of Iran’s modern theocracy, spent barely 120 days ensconced in a villa in the village 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the French capital, before returning in a blaze of publicity to complete the ousting of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in the Iranian Revolution in early 1979.
Andre, an 86-year-old neighbor of the house that was briefly Khomeini’s headquarters, recalled the sudden storm that hit sleepy Neauphle-le-Chateau in the Yvelines department.
“One evening on the television, they announced that an ayatollah had set up home in a comfortable district in the Yvelines,” said the retired engineer, who declined to give his family name but has lived in the village since 1974.
“From the Saturday morning, there was an invasion of journalists. They were parked everywhere.”
Neauphle-le-Chateau, which is just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Versailles palace, soon became a major draw. “The number of people that the ayatollah would receive, especially the young Iranians who studied in Germany,” said Andre.
“It was incredible. He organized the whole Iranian revolution from Neauphle-le-Château.”
Revolutionary exile
Khomeini, then 76, needed a new bolthole after being expelled from his exiled base in the Iraqi city of Najaf by the country’s dictator Saddam Hussein.
“The only place an Iranian could go to without a visa was France,” said Bernard Hourcade, a specialist on Iran at the CNRS, France’s main research institute.
Abolhassan Banisadr, a future president of the Islamic Republic, at first offered accommodation at Cachan, southeast of Paris. But then a friend offered the house west of the capital and Neauphle-le-Chateau became internationally famous.
The ayatollah arrived on October 6, 1978 and left France again on February 1, 1979. He died in Iran in 1989.
According to Hourcade, one of Khomeini’s main activities at the house was to record speeches condemning the shah and calling for revolution, which were recorded on cassettes and secreted into Iran.
Michel, an 87-year-old resident, who also did not want to give his family name, recalled the “police checks” and “blocked roads” during the ayatollah’s stay.
“We weren’t bothered by his presence, but the neighbors on Chevreuse road (where the ayatollah lived) were quite inconvenienced.”
Some, like former resident Alain Simonneau, 80, played down the ayatollah’s role in the history of the village. “It was a minor event for Neauphle-le-Chateau, even if it’s part of our collective memory, whether we like it or not.”
But Lydie Kadiri, who arrived in 1999, said it is a part of history that everyone remembers. “When we say we come from Neauphle-le-Château, everyone immediately remembers the ayatollah!” she said.
The destiny of the house where the ayatollah stayed is another mystery.
The home was destroyed in an explosion in February 1980, a few months after the ayatollah’s death. Other buildings have since been erected.
“One evening, I heard an explosion and suddenly, everything burst into flames. The house shook from the blast. Some glass was cracked in my hall,” recalled Andre.
For some years, a signboard stood on the land where the house had been, signalling the link between Iran’s original spiritual guide and the village. This was vandalized in 2023.
Now pilgrimages are held each year to mark his return to Iran on February 1, 1979.
Khomeini’s successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the US-Israeli air strikes on Iran.
A Neauphle-le-Chateau resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that between 150 and 200 people came each year with Iran’s ambassador “to celebrate the anniversary” of Khomeini’s return to Iran.
In Tehran, a road is named after Neauphle-le-Chateau. The French embassy is located on the street.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.