Araghchi: Europe cannot uphold law while supporting US-Israeli aggression

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused European governments of hypocrisy, saying Europe cannot claim to support international law while backing what he called US-Israeli aggression against Iran, according to Iran's official news agency IRNA.

Araghchi's remarks are aimed at the three European powers, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, known as the E3, which have long presented themselves as defenders of a rules-based order and of the diplomatic track on Iran's nuclear programme. Tehran argues that these same governments failed to condemn the Israeli and American strikes on Iranian territory, including attacks on nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

The dispute goes back to June 2025. Israel launched a military campaign against Iran on June 13, and on June 22 the United States struck the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. Iran retaliated, including a missile strike on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on June 23, before a ceasefire took hold the next day. Qatar played a central role in brokering that ceasefire despite the attack on its territory.

Relations between Tehran and Europe worsened later that year when the E3 triggered the "snapback" mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which led to the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran in late September 2025. Iran rejected the move as legally baseless and said Europe had given up its role as a party to the 2015 nuclear agreement by failing to meet its own commitments after the US withdrawal in 2018.

Araghchi, who became foreign minister in August 2024 and was one of the negotiators of the 2015 deal, has repeatedly said European capitals apply the UN Charter selectively. In his view, they condemn some violations of sovereignty while justifying others when Washington or Israel is responsible.

For Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, the tension between Tehran and the West has direct security consequences, as the 2025 strike on Al Udeid showed. Doha has consistently called for de-escalation, respect for international law and a return to negotiations. Its position is that military action against sovereign states threatens the stability of the whole region.