UK, Germany, and France warn Iran of sanctions return over nuclear program

The United Kingdom, Germany, and France sent a letter to the United Nations expressing readiness to trigger the return of sanctions against Iran if Tehran fails to resume negotiations over its nuclear program, Financial Times reported.

The letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres was signed by the foreign ministers of the three countries. It stated that the European trio offered Iran an extension of the sanctions suspension to prevent automatic reinstatement at the end of August.

The ministers warned that if Iran does not reach a diplomatic solution or resume talks by the end of August, they will activate the “snapback” mechanism to restore sanctions.

Iran had suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency following Israeli and US strikes in June but resumed talks with the Europeans at the end of July. However, Iran’s representative said European countries lack legal and moral grounds to renew sanctions and threatened to exclude them from future negotiations.

UN Security Council sanctions on Iran expire on October 18. Their lifting was part of the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the US withdrew in 2018.