Nuclear armament: Europeans likely to initiate UN sanctions process on Iran today

By Nkiruka Nnorom, with agency reports

Britain, France and Germany, otherwise known as E3, are likely to begin the process of reimposing U.N. sanctions on Iran today, unless Tehran returns to negotiation and allows international inspections of its facilities.

The sanctions were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers. If triggered, the process would take 30 days before sanctions that would cover Iran’s financial, banking, hydrocarbons and defence sectors would be restored.

Officials from the E3 met with Iran in Geneva on Tuesday, but three European diplomats and a Western diplomat said Tuesday’s talks did not yield sufficiently tangible commitments from Iran, although they believed there was scope for further diplomacy in the coming weeks.

They said the E3 had decided to start triggering the so-called snapback of U.N. sanctions, possibly as early as today, over accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

“We have made clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 is prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” the E3 foreign ministers told the UN Security Council in a letter last week.

The West said the advancement of Iran’s nuclear programme goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.

“The real negotiations will start once the letter (to the U.N. Security Council) is submitted,” the Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A German foreign ministry spokesperson said triggering the snapback remained an option for the E3.

Meanwhile, Tehran has warned of a “harsh response” if sanctions are reinstated.

U.N. nuclear inspectors have returned to Iran for the first time since it suspended cooperation with them in the wake of Israel and the United States’ attacks on its nuclear sites in June, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Tuesday they had been allowed into the country, although there was no agreement on what they would actually be allowed to do there or whether they would have access to nuclear facilities.

Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, also told lawmakers Tehran had not reached an agreement on how it would resume full work with the watchdog, parliament news agency ICANA reported.

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, which would also seek to account for Iran’s large stock of enriched uranium that has not been verified since the attacks, and engages in talks with the United States.

Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60 percent fissile purity, a short step from the roughly 90 percent of weapons-grade, and had enough material enriched to that level, if refined further, for six nuclear weapons, before the strikes by Israel started on June 13, according to the IAEA.

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