Britain, France, and Germany are threatening to reimpose sanctions on Iran as an end-of-the-month deadline nears for the country to resume negotiations with the West over its nuclear program. The three countries, known as the E3, issued a letter to the United Nations warning that they will trigger a process called “snapback” if Tehran doesn’t comply.
The snapback mechanism allows one of the Western parties to reapply U.N. sanctions on Iran. French Foreign Minister Jean-Nöel Barrot co-signed the letter with top diplomats from Germany and the UK, stating that they are committed to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s government has not commented on the development, but parliament member Manouchehr Mottaki warned of swift reaction if the E3 triggers the snapback mechanism. He said that the Iranian parliament can approve quitting the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in just 24 hours.
The threat comes after a period of diplomatic deadlock following a recent conflict between Iran and Israel. The countries had met last month to discuss reimposing sanctions, which were lifted in 2015 in exchange for Tehran’s cooperation on its nuclear program. Talks with Washington for a new nuclear deal have not resumed since the conflict.
One diplomat said that if one of the E3 countries triggers the snapback mechanism, Iran would renew its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and address concerns about its highly-enriched uranium stockpile, delaying the sanctions. However, the outcome is uncertain due to limited IAEA inspections in the past as a pressure tactic.
The German government has urged Iran to return to diplomacy and full cooperation with the IAEA. The US intelligence agencies and the IAEA had assessed Iran’s last nuclear program in 2003, but Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60%.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/iran-france-germany-uk-iaea-nuclear-weapons-dd9c8dbc65b13e1d85ff66fd157fee3e