The Foreign Ministry on Sunday praised the UN Security Council for deciding on Saturday to snap back the global sanctions against Iran due to its nuclear program’s violations.
The “sanctions on Iran are officially back,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X/Twitter, adding that “this is a major development in response to Iran’s ongoing violations, especially regarding its military nuclear program.”
“The goal is clear: Prevent a nuclear-armed Iran,” it said. “The world must use every tool at its disposal to achieve this goal.”
Following a process initiated by the UK, France, and Germany at the end of August, the Security Council reinstated an arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran, extending beyond nuclear-specific issues to encompass a variety of weapons systems.
While Tehran warned of a harsh response in August and again this month, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran would not withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
With that threat off the table, it is unclear what other major new threats Iran can follow through on. Much of its nuclear program remains in shambles since Israel attacked it in June, and the ayatollahs tossed out all of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors that month.
The end of the decade-long nuclear deal negotiated initially in 2015 by Iran, the UK, Germany, France, the US, Russia, and China comes as the strategic balance of power among those countries and Israel’s recent attack has reshaped Tehran.
Before Israel’s attack, there was a deep fear in the West that if it used the snapback mechanism, Iran might try to quickly make a nuclear weapon.
Now, most analysts believe the mix of Israeli and US attacks in June has set back Iran’s nuclear program by about two years, and it is not clear if the ayatollahs have made any progress toward restoring the program in its aftermath.
Publicly, top Iranian officials have said much of their enriched uranium and other materials remain under lots of rubble in the various bombed-out nuclear facilities.
Does Mossad know where Iran's remaining uranium still is?
The Jerusalem Post has been told that the Mossad knows where Iran’s enriched uranium is located and can act if necessary if Tehran tries to make any unwise new moves with that stockpile.
The UN sanctions, which had been imposed by the Security Council from 2006 to 2010, but had been inactive for years, were reinstated at 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
Attempts by Iran, China, and Russia on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly this week to delay the return of all sanctions failed.
“We urge Iran and all states to abide fully by these resolutions,” the foreign ministers of France, the UK, and Germany said in a joint statement after the deadline passed.
Russia, on the other hand, disputed the move.
“It is unlawful and it cannot be implemented,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the UN earlier on Saturday, adding that he had written to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, warning that it would be “a major mistake” for him to acknowledge a return of UN sanctions on Iran.
The European powers had offered to delay reinstating the sanctions for up to six months to allow space for talks on a long-term deal if Iran restored access for UN nuclear inspectors, addressed concerns about its stock of enriched uranium, and engaged in the negotiations with the US.
“Our countries will continue to pursue diplomatic routes and negotiations,” the foreign ministers of the UK, France, and Germany wrote. “The reimposition of UN sanctions is not the end of diplomacy.”
“We urge Iran to refrain from any escalatory action and to return to compliance with its legally binding safeguard obligations,” they added.
However, Iran refused to extend the snapback mechanism’s expiration, engage in serious talks with the US, or sufficiently restore the IAEA’s nuclear inspections.
Instead, Iranian officials often demanded compensation for the June attacks, ignoring what many viewed as their loss of leverage.
The reimposition of global sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program was “not like the sky was falling,” Pezeshkian said as he headed home on Saturday from New York, where he failed to convince Western powers at the UN General Assembly to delay the move.
“If we are weak, they will crush us,” Pezeshkian told Islamic Republic state television before leaving New York. “But if we are united, there is no fear from this crisis.”
Iran's economy continues to decline due to sanctions
Meanwhile, Iran’s rial currency continued to decline over fears of freshly imposed sanctions. The rial fell to 1,123,000 per US dollar on Saturday, a record low, from about 1,085,000 on Friday, according to foreign-exchange websites, including Bonbast.
Iran will again be subjected to an arms embargo and a ban on all uranium enrichment, reprocessing activities, and any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs, including launches.
Other sanctions to be reimposed include a travel ban on dozens of Iranian individuals, an asset freeze on dozens of Iranian individuals and entities, and a ban on the supply of anything that could be used in Iran’s nuclear program.
All countries are authorized to seize and dispose of any items banned under the UN sanctions. Iran will be prohibited from acquiring an interest in any commercial activity in another country involving uranium mining, production, or the use of nuclear materials and technology.
Despite these moves, China and Russia are expected to employ complex schemes, including bartering untraceable goods, to help keep Iran’s economy afloat, as they have since 2018, when the Trump administration reimposed a large portion of the original sanctions in its first term.
The Biden administration attempted to negotiate an updated version of the 2015 nuclear deal from early 2021 to early 2025. In multiple instances where the sides were close to an agreement, however, Iran or one of its proxies undertook a provocative move.
For example, the sides had reached a potential interim understanding at the end of summer in 2023, only for it to unravel once Hamas carried out the October 7 massacre.