European Nations Threaten Sanctions Against Iran Over Nuclear Program

The United Kingdom, France, and Germany have threatened to reimpose sanctions on Iran if they refuse to resume negotiations over their nuclear program with NATO within the next few weeks.

The three countries plan to initiate "snapback sanctions" if Iran fails to resume negotiations by the end of the month, giving the country two weeks to consider their options.

Snapback sanctions were originally included into the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was made between the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China, EU, US, and Iran. This deal relieved Iran of several sanctions that had been hindering their economy, while Iran did its part to restrain their nuclear program. However, under the special condition, if Iran shows any sort of non-compliance with the agreement's terms in the future, one of the countries that brokered the deal can trigger the snapback sanctions. This would reimpose all of the UN sanctions that were previously removed, and no country in the deal can veto the decision.

However, President Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018, limiting their ability to trigger the sanctions. Now, the UK, France, and Germany are taking a joint approach to the problem, guaranteeing that the snapback sanctions will be triggered if they take action.

The move comes as Iran has faced continuous pressure to shut down their nuclear program in previous months, with Israel and the United States taking action after they received intel that the Middle Eastern country was days away from creating a nuclear bomb. Israel began a war with Iran that lasted for 12 days, but that conflict came to an end once the US conducted a targeted operation to eliminate the threat posed by several Iranian nuclear sites.

Despite the destruction of a large part of their nuclear program, Iran has refused to halt its uranium enrichment program, and they have not resumed negotiations with the US and EU. Additionally, they have put a pause on their ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which manages all nuclear-related conflicts– the IAEA has confirmed, though, that if Iran were to resume talks with the organization, it could delay the arrival of the snapback sanctions. However, Western countries are facing serious pressure to get an agreement finalized, as the JCPOA is set to expire on October 18.

Nevertheless, Iran has made a threat of their own. Iran claims that they need just 24 hours to withdraw from the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which prevents countries from purchasing nuclear weapons from each other and using them in battle. This could allow them to develop nuclear weapons and use them freely without any sort of international oversight.

Despite these possibilities, Iran's economy is facing a massive crisis, and the country itself is also grappling with a massive water shortage. The triggering of the snapback sanctions could further impact their already-struggling economy, which could worsen the water problem even more. Whether they will continue with negotiations or take the hit from the snapback sanctions is still unknown, though.

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