Mohsen Abdollahi, professor of international law, explained in a detailed note on his account on the social media platform X that the European troika—Britain, France, and Germany—cannot activate the mechanism without first resorting to the dispute settlement procedures stipulated in Articles 36 and 37 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He stressed that arguments claiming the three European countries have lost their legal status as “participants” in the deal due to repeated breaches will not succeed, since invoking the mechanism does not require approval from an independent supervisory body.

Nevertheless, Abdollahi underlined, legitimacy remains absent.

“This concern about the lack of legitimacy clearly surfaces in the troika’s letter to the UN Security Council dated August 8, 2025,” he noted.

Abdollahi recommended that Iran highlight this deficit of legitimacy by pointing to several factors: the Europeans’ failure to uphold their JCPOA commitments by tacitly following US unilateral sanctions after Washington’s unlawful withdrawal; the inaction of their proposed INSTEX mechanism; their support for the US “zero enrichment” plan despite the JCPOA recognizing Iran’s right to enrichment; and their unwillingness to condemn Israeli and American attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities under JCPOA safeguards, and even expressing approval of such actions.

Quoting the 1970 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Namibia, Abdollahi concluded: “A party that has repeatedly violated an agreement cannot claim rights under it. Such an attempt would contravene the principles of good faith and estoppel.”