On Thursday 28 August, the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the United Kingdom (E3) announced that their countries had decided to notify the United Nations Security Council on the same day of Iran’s “significant non-performance of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and hereby invoke the process known as the ‘snapback’ mechanism”, i.e. the reinstatement of sanctions against Iran.
According to the ministers, since 2019 Iran has exceeded the JCPOA limits on enriched uranium, heavy water and centrifuges, has impeded the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct verification and monitoring activities under the Plan, and has failed to implement and ratify the Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. “That was more than five years ago. Since then, we have made every effort to break the deadlock”, they explained.
“Today, Iran’s non-compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is clear and deliberate, and sites presenting a major proliferation risk in Iran are outside IAEA surveillance. There is no civilian justification for Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium [...] and the IAEA is unable to locate it. Its nuclear programme therefore continues to pose a clear threat to international peace and security”, added the ministers to explain their decision.
The E3 notification opens a 30-day period before the “possible reinstatement of previously lifted UN Security Council resolutions”, including restrictive measures. During this period, the ministers intend to continue the dialogue with Iran on their July 2025 proposal to extend the ‘snapback’ mechanism in exchange for Tehran’s commitments and actions, or on “any serious diplomatic approach aimed at bringing Iran back into compliance with its commitments”.
Following the announcement by the Europeans, Iran stated that this decision would “seriously” compromise the process of interaction and cooperation between the country and the IAEA.
Link to E3’s letter to the UN Security Council and to the EU High Representative, as coordinator of the JCPOA: https://aeur.eu/f/i6a (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)