Overview
- European ministers held their first call with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi since mid-June air strikes and demanded an immediate return to negotiations on a verifiable nuclear accord.
- The U.K., France and Germany set a late-August deadline for tangible progress, warning they will activate the JCPOA snapback mechanism to restore U.N. sanctions if Iran fails to comply.
- Under the 2015 deal, reimposed sanctions follow a 30-day U.N. Security Council process that cannot be vetoed by Russia or China and aims to check Iran’s program before Russia’s presidency in October.
- Since June strikes, Iran has suspended IAEA monitoring and insisted on legal assurances against further attacks as a condition for renewing U.S.-mediated talks.
- Tehran has threatened to accelerate uranium enrichment to weapons-grade levels and withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if sanctions snapback proceeds.