European Powers Poised To Reimpose U.N. Sanctions On Iran This Week

Britain, France, and Germany — the E3 — plan to hit Iran with reimposed United Nations sanctions as early as Thursday.

Following high-level talks with Iranian officials on Tuesday, multiple European and Western diplomats told Reuters the E3 will trigger a “snapback” of sanctions this week, signaling a significant setback for Tehran amid ongoing nuclear and security concerns.

“The U.N. process takes 30 days before sanctions that would cover Iran’s financial, banking, hydrocarbons and defence sectors were restored,” Reuters noted, adding, “The E3 have offered to delay the snapback for as much as six months to enable serious negotiations if Iran resumes full U.N. inspections.”

“In a letter dated August 8, the E3 warned Iran it would proceed with ‘snapback’ if Tehran didn’t reach a ‘satisfactory solution’ to the nuclear issues. A deadline was set for August 31,” France 24 noted, adding, “Under ‘snapback,’ any party to the deal can find Iran in noncompliance, reimposing the sanctions. After it expires, any sanctions effort could face a veto from UN Security Council members China and Russia, two nations that have provided some support to Iran in the past but stayed out of the June war.”

In July, a report from Great Britain’s Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament stated clearly that they saw Iran as a “significant threat to the UK.”

“The Iran threat should not be underestimated: it is persistent and  — crucially  — unpredictable,” the report — which was completed before the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israelis and subsequent events occurred — declared. “Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity, which means it poses a dynamic and erratic threat. … it can escalate action sharply with little warning. This was seen following the 2022 protests in Iran, when there was a significant increase in the threat of a physical attack to individuals in the UK and the Middle East whom Iran perceives to be a threat to the regime.”

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In June, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, found that Iran had breached its non-proliferation obligations. It was the first time in almost two decades that the IAEA had taken that stance. The last time the IAEA adopted that position was in September 2005, when clandestine nuclear activities in Iran were discovered.

“The Board of Governors… finds that Iran’s many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the Agency,” the resolution stated.