Europe must reinstate harsh United Nations sanctions on Iran, U.S. lawmakers insisted in a new resolution that accused Tehran of repeated violations of the 2015 nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration.
The bipartisan legislation calls on the U.K., France and Germany to invoke ‘snapback’ sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council immediately – and follow the U.S.’s lead under President Donald Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ executive order to isolate Iran over its nuclear activity.
‘Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and their actions have led to the murder of American servicemembers,’ said Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., the number two Republican on Senate Foreign Relations Committee and lead sponsor of the bill, which has 11 cosponsors in the Senate.
‘Iran’s possession of a nuclear weapon would threaten our security and the security of our allies. Snapback sanctions are key to ensuring that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is successful.’
Reps. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., issued companion legislation in the House.
Under the 2015 Iran deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran evaded U.N., U.S. and E.U. sanctions in exchange for promises not to pursue a nuclear weapon. But Iran eventually cut off independent inspectors’ access to its sites and resumed nuclear activities.
A ‘snapback’ provision of the agreement said that any of the nations privy to the deal – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, U.S. or Germany – could demand the export controls, travel bans and asset freezes be reimposed.
But the U.S. pulled out of the nuclear deal entirely under President Donald Trump’s first administration and imposed its own ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions regime. The Biden administration subsequently issued sanctions waivers and toyed with the idea of returning to a nuclear deal with Iran, but ultimately those efforts faltered.
Tenney urged the European nations to invoke the snapback sanctions before the deal expires in October 2025.
‘Invoking snapback sanctions will restore all the UN sanctions on Iran that were lifted by the Obama administration’s failed Iran nuclear deal,’ she said.
Iran is ‘dramatically’ accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, below the 90% needed for a nuclear weapon, according to U.N. nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi. Western states have said there is no civilian use for 60% uranium.
Britain, France and Germany told the U.N. Security Council in December they were ready to trigger the snapback of all international sanctions on Iran if necessary.
Trump himself said he was ‘torn’ over a recent executive order that triggered harsh sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, adding that he was ‘unhappy to do it.’
‘Hopefully, we’re not going to have to use it very much,’ Trump told reporters.
But he reiterated, ‘We’re not going to let them get a nuclear weapon.’
Trump suggested first trying a ‘verified nuclear peace agreement’ over military escalation. ‘I would much rather do a deal that’s not gonna hurt them,’ the president told Fox News on Monday, adding that ‘I’d love to make a deal with them without bombing them.’
Iran viewed the president’s remarks as a threat and took negotiations off the table.
’No problem will be solved by negotiating with America,’ said Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khameni, citing past ‘experience.’
He called for the country to further develop its military capabilities.
‘We cannot be satisfied,’ Khamenei said. ‘Say that we previously set a limit for the accuracy of our missiles, but we now feel this limit is no longer enough. We have to go forward.’
‘Today, our defensive power is well known, our enemies are afraid of this. This is very important for our country,’ he said.