dubai: France, Germany and the United Kingdom started a process Thursday to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, further isolating Tehran after its 12-day war with Israel saw its atomic sites repeatedly bombed.
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 U.N. 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 U.N. General Assembly in September will also likely see Iran as a top focus.
France and Germany’s 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 X.