Friday saw the launch of a new round of talks between Iran and the three European powers—Britain, France and Germany— in Turkey. The European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, entered the negotiations with two main aims. One was to hang onto the snapback mechanism enrichened in the tattered deal that would reinstate UN sanctions on Iran if triggered, to prove it still holds weight, and to demonstrate its applicability to the Islamic Republic. The other was to showcase their own role in the Iran nuclear dossier, which remains a major item on the international agenda. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House as president, European governments— especially the trio— have felt increasingly sidelined in global diplomacy by Washington.
Now they are keen to play a role in Iran’s nuclear saga and show they still matter. Whether the Europeans adopt
independent stances in talks with Iran or just echo Trump’s rhetoric, many of their statements— particularly regarding provoking the snapback of sanctions—are detached from the realities of the JCPOA. Their stance looks a lot like pressure tactics, akin to those favored by Trump. Nevertheless, they do not necessarily parrot everything Trump says, and it seems unlikely they support his broader agenda, especially given their disappointment with his conduct in his second term. Importantly, a distinction must be made between the JCPOA dispute-resolution mechanism (commonly called the trigger or snapback) and US sanctions.
Snapback carries legal—and potentially binding—weight under UN Security Council resolutions and should not be
overlooked by Iran. The pressure from US unilateral sanctions is separate and unilateral, but the return of previous UN counter-sanctions (six resolutions including five Chapter VII resolutions that portrayed Iran as a threat to international peace and security) would involve all UN members, not just the United States.
This means that if snapback is activated, restrictions would be reinstated not only from Washington but from every UN Security Council member.