On Friday, a last-ditch effort to defer the automatic ‘snapback’ sanctions against Iran collapsed at the United Nations Security Council. This failure occurred after Iran was unable to persuade a sufficient number of nations that it had genuinely reduced its nuclear activities.
The proposed resolution, spearheaded by Iran’s key allies China and Russia, aimed to delay the automatic re-imposition of these UN sanctions for a period of six months. However, the proposal garnered only four votes within the 15-member Council, with prominent nations like Britain, France, and the United States among the nine who voted against the postponement.
Consequently, these sanctions are now scheduled to take effect in Iran early Sunday morning.
The comprehensive sanctions package includes a ban on conventional arms sales to Iran, strict limitations on ballistic missile tests, asset freezes targeting individuals involved in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, along with significant financial and banking restrictions, and prohibitions on uranium enrichment and reprocessing.
During the Security Council meeting in New York, European leaders expressed their frustration, stating that despite intense diplomatic engagement in recent days to encourage Iranian compromise, Tehran’s leadership had failed to make any verifiable, concrete commitments.
“To our major regret, Iran has persisted in its attitude of refusal,” said Jérôme Bonnafont, France’s representative to the U.N. He further noted that Iran had not agreed to effectively resume cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog or to clarify the whereabouts of its enriched material stockpile.
Britain’s representative, Barbara Woodward, echoed this sentiment, affirming, “We stand ready to continue discussions with Iran on a diplomatic solution. In turn, this could allow for the lifting of sanctions in the future.”
(An image depicting people seated at a circular table, with at least two raising their hands. This shows Russia and China voting to delay the re-imposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran.)
For years, Iran has consistently asserted that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful applications. This week at the United Nations General Assembly, President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated the supreme leader’s stance, declaring, “Iran has never sought or will never seek to build a nuclear bomb.”
Prior to the United States’ involvement in Israel’s 12-day conflict with Iran in June, which resulted in significant damage to Iranian sites, the UN’s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), maintained a presence of inspectors and cameras in Iran’s facilities. The IAEA has previously stated it found no evidence of Iran weaponizing its nuclear program.
(An image of President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran speaking at the United Nations General Assembly.)
A crucial element of the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and Western powers was the ‘snapback’ mechanism. This provision allowed for the automatic re-imposition of all UN sanctions suspended by the deal if any signatory determined that Iran was not upholding its commitments.
This snapback mechanism, intentionally designed to bypass Security Council vetoes, is set to expire on October 18. Following this date, countries such as China and Russia, both significant trade partners with Iran, could potentially block any future sanction attempts against Tehran within the Security Council.
Anticipating this deadline, Britain, France, and Germany (the E3 group) initiated moves in late August to reimpose all sanctions on Iran, citing Tehran’s alleged failure to adhere to the stipulations of the 2015 agreement.
A joint letter from the three nations to the Security Council highlighted that Iran had ‘increasingly and deliberately ceased performing’ its nuclear commitments. This included accumulating a ‘high enriched uranium stockpile’ and discontinuing cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog on inspections.
The letter also specified that if Iran’s ‘significant nonperformance’ could be ‘resolved’ before the 30-day deadline, they would inform the Security Council. This aligns with discussions in July, where European diplomats proposed delaying sanctions if Iran agreed to three conditions: restarting nuclear negotiations with the United States, granting the UN nuclear watchdog inspection access to its sites, and providing a full accounting of its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
During Friday’s Security Council session, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, asserted that Iran has acted in a ‘lawful, gradual, and fully consistent’ manner with the 2015 nuclear agreement. He firmly stated, ‘Iran categorically rejects weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.’
China’s representative, Geng Shuang, described the current situation as ‘precarious.’ He pointed out that Iran has ‘repeatedly sent positive signals of readiness to resume talks with the United States,’ and argued that delaying sanctions would ‘create more time for diplomatic efforts’ to achieve a resolution.
The UN’s decision effectively aligns it with the United States in its renewed application of economic pressure on Iran.
This renewed pressure echoes the events of 2018, when then-President Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement. He criticized the deal for providing Iran with substantial funds that he claimed were used for military expansion, while also allowing the country to maintain nuclear development and research capabilities.
Subsequently, Mr. Trump reimposed extensive U.S. sanctions on Iran and launched a ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, designed to severely cripple Tehran’s economy and thwart its ability to acquire nuclear weapons.