Europeans say Iran has yet to take necessary actions to stop the
'snapback' of UN sanctions
[September 18, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — European officials told Iran on
Wednesday it had yet to take the actions needed to stop the return of
United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, warning time was
running out.
The comments from the German Foreign Ministry and the European Union
came after a call Iran had Wednesday with representatives of France,
Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as the EU's top diplomat, Kaja
Kallas.
“The window for finding a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear issue is
closing really fast,” Kallas warned in a statement. "Iran must show
credible steps towards addressing the demands of France, (the) U.K. and
Germany, and this means demonstrating full cooperation with the
International Atomic Energy Agency and allowing inspections of all
nuclear sites without delay.”
The German Foreign Ministry separately wrote on the social platform X
that "Iran has yet to take the reasonable and precise actions necessary
to” stop the reimposition of U.N. sanctions.
In a statement issued hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas
Araghchi again asserted that the reimposition of U.N. sanctions was
"lacking any legal or logical justification." He also pointed to the
fact that Iran and the IAEA earlier reached a deal mediated by Egypt to
grant the U.N. watchdog access to all Iranian nuclear sites and for
Tehran to report on the whereabouts of all its nuclear material.
However, it remains unclear when Iran will make that report. And
Araghchi in his statement offered no other routes to satisfying the
Europeans' concerns.
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“It is now up to the other parties to seize this opportunity to keep
the diplomatic path open and avert an avoidable crisis, showing
seriousness and belief in diplomacy,” he said.
A 12-day war launched by Israel against Iran in June saw both the
Israelis and the Americans bomb Iranian nuclear sites, throwing into
question the status of Tehran's stockpile of uranium enriched nearly
to weapons-grade levels.
The process to reimplement sanctions on Iran, termed a “snapback” by
the diplomats who negotiated it into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with
world powers, was designed to be veto-proof at the U.N. It will take
effect at the end of September unless the U.N. Security Council
agrees to stop it.
It will again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with
Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile
program, among other measures, further squeezing the country’s
reeling economy.
Using the “snapback" mechanism will likely heighten tensions between
Iran and the West in a region still burning over the Israel-Hamas
war in the Gaza Strip, particularly after Israel began its ground
offensive targeting Gaza City.
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Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Stephanie
Liechtenstein in Vienna and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to
this report.
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