Britain, France, Germany trigger 30-day Iran sanctions process

Britain, France and Germany launched a 30-day process to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme on Thursday, a step likely to stoke tensions two months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran, according to a letter sent by E3 to the UN Security Council seen by Reuters.

The trio, known as the E3, said in a statement they had decided to trigger the so-called snapback mechanism before they lose the ability in mid-October to restore sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.

They have held several rounds of talks with Iran since Israel and the United States struck its nuclear installations in mid-June, aiming to agree to defer the mechanism, but they deemed that talks in Geneva on Tuesday did not yield sufficiently tangible commitments from Iran.

The E3 have pressed ahead now over accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 deal that aimed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. The United States, which was a party to that deal, pulled out under President Donald Trump in 2018 and held failed indirect negotiations earlier this year with Tehran.

The E3, whose ministers informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of their decision on Wednesday, said they hoped that Iran would engage by the end of September to provide commitments over its nuclear programme that would convince them to defer concrete action.