Europe powers move to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over nuclear drive
France, Britain, and Germany on Thursday triggered a mechanism to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran for failing to comply with commitments over its nuclear programme. The three countries notified the UN Security Council that they “believe Iran to be in significant non-performance of its commitments” under a 2015 nuclear deal, according to a letter seen by AFP.Their foreign ministers said they “hereby invoke the process known as the ‘snapback’ mechanism,” which initiates a 30-day process for reimposing sanctions suspended a decade ago. The move by the European trio — known as the E3 — took place just days after Iranian and European diplomats held talks in Geneva, the second since Israel’s attack on Iran that started a 12-day war in June. It also comes as the window for triggering the so-called snapback mechanism closes on 18 October. Western powers have for two decades feared that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon under the guise of an atomic energy programme, a charge vehe...