France, Germany and the United Kingdom started a process Thursday to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
The mechanism, termed “snapback” by the diplomats who negotiated it into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, was designed to be veto-proof at the UN and is likely to go into effect.
It would again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of its ballistic missile program, among other measures, further squeezing the country’s reeling economy.
The European move starts a 30-day clock for the sanctions to return, a period that likely will see intensified diplomacy from Iran, whose refusal to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors started the crisis. The UN General Assembly in September will also likely see Iran as a top focus.
The British, French and German foreign ministers suggested they viewed “snapback” as a way to spur negotiations with Tehran.
"This measure does not signal the end of diplomacy: we are determined to make the most of the 30-day period that is now opening to engage in dialogue with Iran,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot wrote on the social platform X.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he decried the move as “unjustified, illegal, and lacking any legal basis" in a call with his European counterparts.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will respond appropriately to this unlawful and unwarranted measure,” he said, without elaborating.
Iran has threatened in the past to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, potentially following North Korea, which said it abandoned the treaty in 2003 and built atomic weapons afterward.
The three European nations warned Aug. 8 that Iran could trigger snapback when it halted inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency after Israeli strikes at the start of the two countries’ 12-day war in June. Israeli attacks then killed Tehran’s top military leaders and saw Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei go into hiding.
The European nations triggered the sanctions process through a letter to the UN Security Council. France and the UK also requested that the 15-member council hold closed consultations Friday to discuss Iran’s noncompliance, according to a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss still-private information.
There's a slim chance diplomacy will create an opening to push back the Oct. 18 deadline, after which any sanctions effort will likely face a veto. Iran likely would need to resume direct negotiations with the US and provide the IAEA full access to its nuclear sites to get such a delay.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the Europeans' decision and said America “remains available for direct engagement with Iran.”
“Snapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy, it only enhances it,” Rubio said in a statement.
