Posted on 08/28/25
| News Source: FOX News
Europe’s powerhouse trio, the U.K., France, and Germany (E3), on Thursday initiated the process to reimpose sweeping sanctions against Iran over its "significant non-compliance" with international nuclear agreements.
At 9 am EST, they submitted a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council, Panama's Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba, notifying him of their intent to trigger the snapback sanctions mechanism enshrined under the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Fox News Digital confirmed ahead of the action on Thursday.
"We the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, share the fundamental objective that Iran shall never seek, acquire or develop a nuclear weapon," the letter obtained by Fox News Digital said. "We will continue to strive to diplomatically resolve the issue of Iran's significant non-performance.The letter concluded by noting that sanctions "will be restored" unless the U.N. Security Council unanimously decides otherwise.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio championed the move as "welcome" and said, "snapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy, it only enhances it."
"I urge Iranian leaders to take the immediate steps necessary to ensure that their nation will never obtain a nuclear weapon; to walk the path of peace; and to, by extension, advance prosperity for the Iranian people," he added.
The action comes after months of warnings from European leaders, and years of calls from the U.S. dating back to the first Trump administration in 2018, flagging that Tehran was in violation of nuclear agreements made under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – though Iran's record of non-compliance did not initiate until 2019 per findings by international nuclear watchdogs.
According to a U.K. official on Thursday, the decision to enforce snapback sanctions, which is expected to have severe consequences for Iran's already flagging economy, was not a decision that was made "lightly."
The official confirmed that there has been "very intense diplomacy" over the last "12-months, 6-months, 6-weeks" that ultimately led to this decision – including three major factors like Tehran's uranium stockpile levels, its operating of advanced centrifuges and its refusal to adhere to international inspection regulations – all of which are dictated under the JCPOA.
The official confirmed that in May Iran was found to have roughly 20,000 lbs of enriched uranium, including 900 lbs of near-weapons grade highly enriched uranium (HEU) – which is 45 times higher than the JCPOA limit of under 660 lbs of enriched uranium.
"Iran is the only non-nuclear weapons state producing highly enriched uranium," the official said, adding that those stockpiles remain unaccounted for.
Thursday's actions mean that by the end of the 30-day period all 15 members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which includes Russia and China, could be legally bound to reimpose sanctions on Iran.