European Nations Move to Restart Sanctions on Iran Over Nuclear Program

Britain, France and Germany said the country had violated the terms of a 2015 nuclear deal. Iran’s foreign minister called their action “illegal.”

By Steven Erlanger

Britain, France and Germany notified the United Nations on Thursday that Iran was in breach of its obligations under the 2015 agreement restricting its nuclear activities and moved to reinstate harsh sanctions suspended in that deal.

The notification does not mean the immediate reimposition of sanctions. It begins a 30-day period of consultation in which Iranian and European diplomats are likely to intensify negotiations to avoid that outcome.

“We will continue to strive to diplomatically resolve the issue,” the foreign ministers of the three European countries said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi of Iran called the move illegal but did not specify how Iran might respond. In a phone call to his British, French and German counterparts, he said that Iran “will respond appropriately to this illegal and unjustified action by the three European countries, in order to protect and guarantee its national rights and interests,” according to a statement from his ministry.

He called on the three countries to “appropriately correct this wrong decision in the coming days.” The statement said that this “escalation” would undermine the “ongoing process of engagement” with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.

Under the U.N. resolution that governs the deal, no Security Council member can veto the sanctions, even Iran’s allies Russia and China. They are also signatories to the agreement.

The so-called snapback would again impose on Iran extensive penalties that were in place before the 2015 deal. They include an embargo on sales of conventional arms, asset freezes, visa bans and significant restrictions on ballistic missile production.

The 2015 deal expires on Oct. 18. On that day, the sanctions suspended under it would disappear. Triggering the snapback would keep the sanctions in place beyond that date. European officials view the sanctions as leverage to compel Iran to negotiate another agreement over its nuclear activities.

Iran has sought Russia’s help in trying to avoid these sanctions, and Moscow and Beijing have drafted a U.N. resolution to postpone their imposition for six months. But the Europeans can veto any such resolution. They had set a deadline of the end of August because Russia takes over the chair of the Security Council in October and could try to delay the sanctions through procedural maneuvers until the 2015 deal expires that month.

Iran has said that if the sanctions are restored, it would exit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a separate agreement that governs the activities of its signatories to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Leaving it requires a three-month notification period.

Iran says that its enrichment is for civilian purposes and that it has the right to enrich uranium. The United States, Israel and the Europeans fear that a nuclear-armed Iran would increase tensions and instability in the Middle East.

The Europeans have offered Iran a one-time, six-month suspension of the possibility of restoring the sanctions in return for three concessions.

They want Iran to reopen talks with the United States on restricting or eliminating Iran’s nuclear program; to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency unrestricted access to nuclear sites; and to allow the agency access to the nearly 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium that Iran already possesses. That stockpile would be enough to build 10 nuclear weapons.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the European move and said in a statement that the United States “remains available for direct engagement with Iran — in furtherance of a peaceful, enduring resolution to the Iran nuclear issue.”

So far, the Iranian government has refused to restart talks with Washington, says it has no idea what has happened to its highly enriched uranium after Israeli and American airstrikes in June, and will not allow agency inspectors full access. Some inspectors are back in Iran, but they are only allowed to supervise the refueling of a civilian reactor at Bushehr, Iranian officials said this week.

Tehran also rejects the Europeans’ right to restore the sanctions. Iranian officials argue that Europe, too, has not kept its financial commitments under the deal. Should the sanctions take effect again, Iran would retaliate, including by suspending cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister, told Iranian state television.

The 2015 deal was negotiated under former President Barack Obama. Britain, France and Germany — along with the United States, the European Union, China and Russia — were all signatories. President Trump withdrew in 2018, reimposing significant American sanctions on Iran and adding more. But his effort, which he called “maximum pressure,” to impel Iran to strike a different deal failed. So did European efforts to arrange a means of doing business with Iran. Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. also failed to negotiate a deal with Iran.

Tehran eventually decided to breach the agreement and began to enrich uranium, a fuel used in some nuclear weapons, to levels and quantities well beyond the limits in the deal.

Mr. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, had indirect talks with Iran before the June airstrikes. Mr. Trump has insisted that Iran stop all enrichment, which Tehran refuses to do.

Europeans and Iranian diplomats met this week in Geneva but made little progress. Still, after the meeting, Mr. Gharibabadi said “Iran remains committed to diplomacy and a mutually beneficial diplomatic solution.” He urged the Europeans and the Security Council “to make the right choice, and give diplomacy time and space.”

Reimposing the sanctions restores the provisions of six Security Council resolutions. They include demands that Iran “suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities,” be banned from acquiring nuclear-related technology, and be subject to an arms embargo on items such as tanks and aircraft. The resolutions also sanctioned people and entities involved in military and nuclear activities.

Once reinstated, the sanctions become international law. The economic pain on Iran would be significant in a country already suffering from high inflation and energy shortages because of gas smuggling, lack of maintenance and existing sanctions on industrial equipment.

Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe and is based in Berlin. He has reported from over 120 countries, including Thailand, France, Israel, Germany and the former Soviet Union.