Overview

• UK, France and Germany formally notified the UN Security Council on Aug. 28 to initiate the JCPOA snapback process restoring UN sanctions on Iran unless blocked within 30 days.
• The Security Council held a closed meeting on Aug. 29, where Russia and China pushed back against the European move and clashed with the three governments, according to diplomatic accounts.
• The European side set three requirements for Iran: full cooperation with IAEA inspections, concrete steps to reduce enriched uranium concerns, and a return to comprehensive negotiations including direct engagement with the United States.
• Iran rejected the proposals as unrealistic, argued the Europeans lack legal grounds to trigger snapback, threatened to scale back IAEA cooperation, and called for an unconditional six‑month extension of the nuclear deal before its October expiry.
• Under the snapback mechanism, all previous UN measures, including asset freezes and an arms embargo, automatically resume if the Council does not adopt a resolution to prevent restoration, though the Europeans stress that diplomacy continues during the 30‑day window.