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United Nations sanctions on Iran are set to be reimposed on Saturday, Britain’s UN envoy said on Friday after a Russian and Chinese Security Council resolution to delay them failed, prompting Tehran to warn that the West bore responsibility for any consequences.
The decision to restore sanctions by Western powers is likely to exacerbate tensions with Iran, which has already warned that the action would be met with a harsh response and open the door to escalation.
The Russian and Chinese push to delay the return of sanctions on Iran failed at the 15-member UN Security Council after only four countries supported their draft resolution.
“This council does not have the necessary assurance that there is a clear path to a swift diplomatic solution,” Britain’s envoy to the United Nations, Barbara Wood, said after the vote.
“This council fulfilled the necessary steps of the snapback process set out in resolution 2231, therefore UN sanctions targeting Iranian proliferation will be reimposed this weekend,” she said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told a group of journalists and analysts that Iran had no intention to leave the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a reaction to the revival of the UN sanctions.
“Iran will never seek nuclear weapons … We are fully prepared to be transparent about our highly enriched uranium,” Pezeshkian said.
Sanctions snapback process in motion
All UN sanctions on Iran are set to be reinstated at 8pm EDT on Saturday (10am AEST on Sunday) after European powers, known as the E3, initiated a 30-day process accusing Tehran of breaching the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — a 2015 agreement aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The snapback mechanism of sanctions against Iran is a process under the JCPOA that enables the return of the previously lifted, UN sanctions on Iran in response to a major breach of the nuclear deal.
Iran denies that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.
Diplomats had said the resolution to delay sanctions for six months was unlikely to pass, after last-ditch talks between Iran and Britain, France, and Germany failed to break the deadlock.
Nine countries voted no, while two abstained.
Russia’s deputy envoy to the United Nations accused the Western powers of burying the diplomatic path, and China’s representative Geng Shuang expressed deep regret that the resolution was not adopted and called for upholding regional peace and stability.
“A breakdown in the Iranian nuclear issue could trigger a new regional security crisis, which runs counter to common interests of the international community,” he said.
E3 ‘buried’ diplomacy, Iran says
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told the council: “Pursuit of the so-called ‘snapback’ is clear and consistent — it is legally void, politically reckless and procedurally flawed.”
“The US has betrayed diplomacy, but it is the E3 which have buried it,” he said.
The European powers had offered to delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months to allow space for talks on a long-term deal if Iran restored access for UN nuclear inspectors, addressed concerns about its stock of enriched uranium, and engaged in talks with the United States.
The US representative at the council said Iran had failed to address E3 concerns, meaning a return of sanctions was inevitable, although she left the door open for diplomacy and France said the return of sanctions was not the end of diplomacy.
On Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that negotiations with the US would not serve Tehran’s interests and would prove a “dead-end”.
In a recorded message, Khamenei also said Iran would not “surrender to pressure” regarding uranium enrichment, and he reiterated Tehran’s long-standing official position that it does not need nuclear weapons and has no intention of producing them.
UN sanctions would come into force immediately on Saturday, while European Union sanctions would return next week.
The sanctions would restore an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities and would also hit its energy sector.
Iran’s currency hitting an all-time low
Iran’s economy is already struggling with crippling sanctions reimposed since 2018, after US President Donald Trump ditched the nuclear deal during his first term.
The announcement of the implementation of the snapback mechanism has already impacted the country’s economy, with Iran’s currency hitting an all-time low against the US dollar on Thursday.
Addressing the UN General Assembly earlier on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country bombed Iran’s nuclear installations with the United States in June, said the world should not allow Iran to rebuild its nuclear and military programs.
“We lifted a dark cloud that could have claimed millions and millions of lives, but ladies and gentlemen, we must remain vigilant,” Netanyahu said.
“We must not allow Iran to rebuild its military nuclear capacities, Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. These stockpiles must be eliminated, and tomorrow UN Security Council sanctions on Iran must be snapped back,” he said.
