TEHRAN — Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticized European powers on Sunday for their role in the ongoing standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, saying Britain, France, and Germany are siding with the United States and undermining the 2015 nuclear deal.
“For more than two decades, Europe has been at the heart of the ongoing, manufactured crisis over my country’s peaceful nuclear program,” Araghchi said in an opinion piece published in British daily The Guardian, arguing that Europe has shifted from a “moderating force aspiring to restrain a belligerent America” to one that “is today enabling the excesses of Washington.”
Last week, the three European countries—known as the E3—activated the so-called “snapback” mechanism to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran. The process, established under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was designed to penalize “significant non-performance” by any party to the agreement.
Araghchi dismissed the move as lacking legal standing. “The E3’s gambit lacks any legal standing, chiefly because it ignores the sequence of events that led Iran to adopt lawful remedial measures under the nuclear deal,” he said. 
He stressed that it was the United States, not Iran, which “unilaterally ended participation in the JCPOA” and denounced Europe for failing to uphold its own commitments.
He also condemned the E3 for “outrageous welcoming of the bombing of Iran in June,” referring to a U.S. attack on Iranian targets, which occurred on the eve of diplomatic talks. 
“Britain, France and Germany may appear to act out of spite. But the truth is that they are intently pursuing a reckless course of action based on the logic that it may provide them with a seat at the table on other issues. This is a grave miscalculation that is bound to backfire,” Araghchi said.
The minister portrayed Europe’s influence as waning in global affairs, citing Washington’s sidelining of the E3 on critical issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 
“The message from Washington is loud and clear: to gain relevance, the E3 must exhibit undying fealty,” he added, pointing to images of European leaders in the Oval Office with President Trump as evidence.
Araghchi traced the history of negotiations, recalling that when the E3 was formed in 2003 to “rein in the George W. Bush administration” after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran welcomed the effort. However, talks faltered because Europe “could neither offer anything substantial nor stand up to Washington.”
After years of sanctions and Iran’s uranium enrichment program expansion, the JCPOA was signed in 2015 based on a “straightforward bargain”: “unprecedented oversight and curbs on Iranian enrichment in exchange for the termination of sanctions.”
“But one decade later, we are almost back at square one,” Araghchi said, referring to President Trump’s 2018 decision to exit the deal and reimpose sanctions.
He criticized Europe for failing to protect the deal after the U.S. withdrawal. “The E3 pledged remediation, publicly recognizing that ‘the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions and normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran constitute essential parts of the agreement.’ The French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, thundered that Europe is not a ‘vassal,’” Araghchi said, but “none of it materialized.”
The Iranian diplomat hit out at Europe for expecting Iran “to unilaterally accept all restrictions,” while declining to condemn the U.S. attack on Iran. He called the E3’s demand to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran “a gambit that will not achieve the result they seek.”
“There is still time—and a dire need—for an honest conversation,” Araghchi said, emphasizing that “it does not make any sense for the E3 to claim participation in a deal pillared on uranium enrichment in Iran while demanding that Iran must disavow those very capabilities.”
He also condemned German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for “openly cheerleading illegal military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities protected by international law,” saying such behavior does not constitute “participation.”
Despite the tensions, Araghchi said Iran remains open to diplomacy. “It is ready to forge a realistic and lasting bargain that entails ironclad oversight and curbs on enrichment in exchange for the termination of sanctions,” he stated.
He warned of the consequences if diplomacy fails. “Failing to seize on this fleeting window of opportunity may have consequences destructive for the region and beyond on a whole new level.”
Araghchi also addressed recent regional military tensions, saying Israel “may be pitching itself as capable of conducting war on behalf
 of the west,” but “the powerful armed forces of Iran are ready and able to once again pummel Israel into running to ‘daddy’ to be bailed out.”
He added that “the failed Israeli gambit this summer cost American taxpayers billions of dollars, robbed the United States of vital hardware that is now missing from its inventories, and projected Washington as a reckless actor dragged into a rogue regime’s wars of choice.”
Araghchi concluded with a call for Europe and the U.S. to prioritize diplomacy. 
“If Europe truly wants a diplomatic solution, and if President Trump wants the bandwidth to focus on real issues that are not manufactured in Tel Aviv, they need to give diplomacy the time and space that it needs to succeed. The alternative is not likely to be pretty.”