Several European nations on Thursday moved to reimpose strict U.N. sanctions on Iran targeting the Islamic Republic’s assets, international arms sales, and ballistic missile program. Officials in Tehran did not take kindly to the news, with one member of the Iranian parliament suggesting the regime should launch missiles at the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
Those countries—collectively known as the E3—invoked a U.N. mechanism known as “snapback,” which reapplies virtually all sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran will have 30 days to negotiate a reprieve before the sanctions freeze the regime’s assets abroad, ban international arms sales, and severely restrict its ballistic missile program.
The E3’s decision came after a Tuesday diplomatic session with Iran that failed to generate any tangible movement on its contested nuclear program. Western countries view the threat of snapback as a means to pressure Tehran into making substantial concessions at the bargaining table and allowing international nuclear inspectors to restart oversight efforts, and Iran will have 30 days to negotiate a reprieve before the sanctions take effect. Various sunset clauses written into the 2015 nuclear deal set a mid-October deadline for the United Nations to invoke the snapback.
“This measure does not signal the end of diplomacy,” French minister for Europe and foreign affairs Jean-Noël Barrot said on X, echoing a similar sentiment to his German counterpart. “We are determined to make the most of the 30-day period that is now opening to engage in dialogue with Iran.”
While the E3 still hopes to strike a deal within the next month, Iranian officials do not appear likely to come to an agreement. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi lashed out at the E3 after its announcement, describing the move as “unjustified, illegal, and lacking any legal basis.” The Islamic Republic, he said, “will respond appropriately to this unlawful and unwarranted measure.”
Iranian state-controlled press suggested Tehran could ban International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from its contested enrichment sites, just days after those inspectors reentered the country.
Amir Hayat Moghadam, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, floated another idea: direct military action against the Western countries that invoked snapback sanctions.
“Right now, all European countries are within our range, and with the missiles we have, we can strike all of these countries,” Moghadam said. “Our missiles reach not only France, but also Germany, the UK, and all parts of Western and Eastern Europe.”
Both Israel and the Trump administration see the sanctions as a tool to rein in Tehran’s ballistic missile program as the Islamic Republic works to rearm after its defeat in June.
“We are closely coordinating with our E3 partners about snapback,” a State Department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. “A deal with Iran will be beneficial to the Iranian people, the Middle East, and the world, but we will also hold Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, accountable if there is no deal.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a press release he will work with the U.N. Security Council over the next month “to successfully complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.” As the process plays out, he added, “the United States remains available for direct engagement with Iran.”
Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said in a statement provided to the Free Beacon that the sanctions snapback “is an important step on the way to stopping the Iranian nuclear program and increasing pressure on the regime in Tehran.”
“Iran continues to ignore the international community and violate its commitments time and time again,” Danon continued. “Israel has already demonstrated its concerns about the malicious intentions of the ayatollahs’ regime.”
While Israel and the United States successfully degraded Iran’s nuclear program and other military capabilities, the Islamic Republic displayed advanced missile technology earlier this month during its first set of military drills since the 12-Day War. Tehran reportedly tested a new missile dubbed the “Akher al-Zaman,” or “apocalypse,” a 20-meter explosive capable of carrying a four-ton warhead “that has the destructive power of a nuclear bomb and is capable of razing an area of 80 kilometers to the ground,” according to regime-aligned media.
Iran conducted simulations of attacks against Israel during the exercises and claimed its “missile force has completely rebuilt its capabilities and changed tactics in line with new developments.” It also displayed two naval cruise missiles and a medium-range anti-ship cruise missile, state-controlled press reported.
The United Nations’ snapback mechanism could help stymie Tehran’s efforts to rebuild its missile capabilities by preventing countries like Russia and China from rearming the Islamic Republic. Both states, which have provided Iran with missile technology and other military aid, vowed to fight the snapback sanctions. The two may attempt to block the sanctions from taking effect should diplomacy fail in the coming weeks.
Khosro Isfahani, a research fellow at the National Union for Democracy in Iran, told the Free Beacon Tehran’s actions have made clear snapback sanctions are the only path forward.
“With the Islamic Republic failing to offer the world anything other than talk therapy disguised as diplomacy, the E3 made the right decision to trigger the snapback mechanism,” he said. “The world, time and again, has extended olive branches to the Islamic Republic. The regime’s response has been consistent and clear: No.”
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