Europeans likely to initiate UN sanctions process on Iran on Thursday

Britain, France and Germany are likely to begin the process of re-imposing U.N. sanctions on Iran on Thursday, but hope Tehran will provide commitments over its nuclear program within 30 days that will convince them to defer concrete action, four diplomats said.

The trio, known as the E3, met Iran on Tuesday to try to revive diplomacy over the nuclear program before they lose the ability in mid-October to restore sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.

Three European diplomats and a Western diplomat said Tuesday's talks did not yield sufficiently tangible commitments from Iran, although they believed there was scope for further diplomacy in the coming weeks.

They said the E3 had decided to start triggering the so-called snapback of U.N. sanctions, possibly as early as Thursday, over accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The West says the advancement of Iran's nuclear program goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.


Reuters