Europeans plan to restore sanctions against Tehran

BEIRUT — Britain, France and Germany on Thursday launched a 30-day process that would lead to the reimposition of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, according to a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council and seen by Reuters.

The trio, known as the E3, said in a statement that they had decided to activate the so-called “snapback” mechanism, which allows sanctions against Tehran to be reinstated that were lifted as part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal struck in Vienna.

Several rounds of talks have taken place with Iran since the end of the 12-day war, launched by a campaign of Israeli airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in mid-June, in the hope of delaying the use of this mechanism, which was set to expire in mid-October. However, according to the Europeans, last Tuesday’s talks in Geneva failed to secure sufficiently concrete commitments from Tehran.

The E3 has therefore decided to move forward on the basis of accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 agreement, which was designed to prevent the country from acquiring nuclear weapons. The United States, which was a party to the agreement, withdrew in 2018 by decision of Donald Trump, influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Washington had earlier this year held indirect negotiations with Tehran before those talks were interrupted by the Israeli offensive against Iran, supported by the United States.

The E3 ministers, who had informed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of their decision on Wednesday, said they hoped Iran would by the end of September commit to providing guarantees about its nuclear program to persuade them to delay any concrete action.

Iran had previously warned it would deliver a “severe response” if sanctions were reinstated.

The E3 had proposed delaying the “snapback” mechanism by up to six months to allow for real negotiations, provided Iran resumed full U.N. inspections — which would also aim to check the large stock of enriched uranium that has not been verified since the June strikes — and agreed to engage in dialogue with the United States.