Overview

• The US, Germany, France and the UK formally set an end-of-August deadline this week to finalize a nuclear accord with Tehran
• They will urge Tehran to take verifiable measures on its uranium enrichment to head off the Vienna pact’s snapback sanctions
• Under the 2015 Vienna agreement, co-signatories can automatically reinstate UN sanctions until the deal expires in October
• The deadline follows stalled indirect talks in Rome and Muscat that achieved technical progress but broke down over permissible enrichment levels
• US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the aim is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul described the snapback mechanism as a “real trump card”