UN sanctions against Iran came back into effect after talks between Tehran and Western countries over the country's nuclear program failed, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
This happened last night at 8:00 p.m. New York time (today 00:00 GMT) - ten years after the measures were lifted. The sanctions include an arms embargo and economic restrictions.
Despite the decision, the United States and European countries stressed that the diplomatic path remains open. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Iran to accept “direct and good faith negotiations“ and urged all countries to immediately implement sanctions to put pressure on Tehran.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said they would continue to seek "a new diplomatic formula to ensure that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon." They urged Tehran to refrain from escalating actions.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only non-nuclear weapons state that enriches uranium to 60% - a level close to the technical threshold of 90% needed to produce a nuclear bomb. Experts say Tehran has about 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, which could allow the production of 8-10 nuclear warheads with further enrichment. Iran, however, denies having military ambitions and insists on its right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
President Massoud Pezeshkian said the US had demanded that all of its enriched uranium be handed over in exchange for a three-month extension of the sanctions freeze - a condition he described as "unacceptable".
At the end of August, the European troika - Britain, France and Germany (E3) - triggered the "snapback" mechanism, which allowed for the automatic reinstatement of sanctions 30 days later. A series of intensive meetings took place during the UN General Assembly in New York last week, but the Europeans said Iran had not made "concrete concessions" on three key conditions: resuming negotiations with the US, full access for IAEA inspectors to the sites in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, and ensuring the security of enriched uranium stocks.
Russia and China have tried unsuccessfully to extend the validity of the 2015 nuclear agreement (JCPOA), which expires on October 18, by another six months. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of “sabotaging diplomacy“ and said that the resumption of sanctions was “legally invalid“ and could not be implemented.
The nuclear deal was signed in 2015 by Iran and six world powers – France, Britain, Germany, the US, Russia and China – and placed restrictions on Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. In 2018, the administration of President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal and reimposed unilateral sanctions. In response, Iran has gradually violated some of its commitments.
“Iran has never sought and will never seek to build a nuclear bomb,“ President Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly this week.