Britain, France, and Germany moved on Thursday to reinstate extensive sanctions on Iran as punishment for its nuclear activities. The European states—known as the “E3”—notified the United Nations Security Council that they were triggering “snapback” mechanisms to reimpose sanctions that had been suspended under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the move. In a statement, Rubio said the European allies “have laid out a clear case of Iran’s continuing ‘significant non-performance’ of its nuclear commitments, establishing a strong basis for initiating snapback.”
The reimposed sanctions do not take effect for 30 days, during which time the E3 and Tehran can settle differences through diplomacy. Western nations want Iran to negotiate another nuclear deal to replace the one signed under U.S. President Barack Obama.
In 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew from that deal, despite Iran’s compliance. Tehran continued to follow the agreement for one year before ramping up its nuclear enrichment activities. Both the defunct agreement and the sanctions it suspended were set to officially expire on October 18, but the E3’s move on Thursday could sustain the latter beyond that date.
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