France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have told the United Nations they are ready to trigger the “snapback” mechanism to reinstate international sanctions on Iran unless it resumes negotiations with the US over its nuclear program by the end of August 2025.
The European powers said they could grant a limited extension to allow more time for talks if Iran returns to the table and resumes cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Their offer, made during discussions in Turkey last month, has so far gone unanswered.
The 2015 nuclear deal has been unraveling since the US withdrawal in 2018. Iran has since expanded uranium enrichment, and recent Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities in June — joined briefly by the US — derailed planned negotiations. Tehran has since suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the E3’s authority to trigger snapback sanctions, accusing them of failing to meet their own commitments. He warned that if sanctions are reimposed, European powers will be excluded from future nuclear talks.
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