UK, France and Germany Trigger UN "Snapback" Sanctions on Iran

 

The UK, Germany and France have followed in the footsteps of U.S. regulators and have reimposed "snapback" sanctions on Iran over its nuclear weapons program. The decision amounts to an end of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), the 2015 multilateral agreement that is known in the U.S. as the "Iran nuclear deal." 

The UN Security Council unanimously approved the JCPOA, and international monitors found that for the next three years, Iran appeared to keep to the letter of the deal on uranium enrichment and nuclear R&D. However, its other military activities continued unabated, creating an ongoing and urgent concern for Iran's critics and neighbors. Though not nuclear per se, these activities - specifically Iran's accumulating missile stockpile, its involvement in civil wars in Syria and Yemen, and its provision of training and support for anti-American militias - had serious strategic implications. 

In May 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions on Iran, initiating a campaign of "maximum pressure" on Tehran's economically-vital petroleum sector. One year later, Iran began breaching the terms of the agreement on enriched uranium and centrifuges, and it restricted international monitors' access to its nuclear sites. The UK, France and Germany tried to mediate, but did not immediately exit the deal.  

"We acted in good faith to preserve the JCPoA, in the sincere hope of finding a way to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue, while preserving the agreement and remaining within its framework," the three European nations (together, the E3) said in a joint statement. 

In July 2025, in a last-ditch effort to save the treaty, the E3 proposed to extend its terms if Iran would meet several criteria, beginning with inspections and resumption of negotiations. Iran did not agree, and the E3 concluded that "Iran's non-compliance with the JCPoA is clear and deliberate." The E3 have decided to notify the UN Security Council that Iran is not following its commitments under the deal, activating the "snapback" mechanism that reimposes UN sanctions. 

"If the UNSC does not adopt within 30 days a resolution to continue the lifting of UNSC resolutions on Iran, six Security Council resolutions, including on sanctions, will be restored," the E3 noted.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the announcement and said that it was a prelude to renewed negotiations. In a statement, Rubio said that "snapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy, it only enhances it."  

The UN sanctions that are set to enter into renewed effect will reimpose an arms embargo, an overseas asset freeze, a travel ban, limits on ballistic missile programs, and restrictions on nuclear technology. These limits could reinforce the economic effects of the U.S. government's unilateral "maximum pressure" sanctions regime. Iran's currency, the rial, fell abruptly after the E3's announcement, reflecting market expectations of additional economic pressure. 

In a statement Thursday, the Iranian government called the E3's actions a "provocative and unnecessary escalation," and pledged to respond. "Iran has acted responsibly and in good faith in adhering to diplomacy for resolving nuclear-related issues," asserted Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a statement.

The current status of its nuclear program is opaque, as UN experts have been banned from its sites, and Iran denies that it has intentions of producing a nuclear bomb. But as of May - before a series of Israeli and American airstrikes - it was believed to possess enough high-enriched uranium to produce nine nuclear weapons. To achieve a nuclear breakout, Iran would still need to develop a working weapon design, and would have to process its uranium hexafluoride gas into uranium metal for fabrication.