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Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, welcomed the move by Britain, France and Germany to trigger the snapback of UN sanctions on Iran, calling it a necessary response to Tehran’s “nuclear extortion and terrorism.”
In a statement on Thursday, Risch said the Security Council must now “reject the Islamic Republic of Iran’s continued threats and deceptions” and enforce a full return of sanctions, including the arms embargo and restrictions on Iran’s nuclear scientists.
“The Security Council has an opportunity in earnest to reclaim some of its legitimacy,” Risch said. “This is a good step, but now the hard work begins.”
He added that he looks forward to working with the Trump administration to ensure compliance and hold violators accountable.
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi warned on Thursday that the snapback process initiated by European powers could affect negotiations with Iran over restoring access to key nuclear sites.
Asked by CNN whether the sanctions push would impact talks between the IAEA and Tehran, Grossi said, “Everything is interconnected and it's the same people at different tables… so we cannot say that there is no impact.”
Grossi urged all sides to use the 30-day window before UN sanctions are reinstated to find a solution. “If within this 30-day period we can, together with Iran, the IAEA can establish a good mechanism to return to the places and especially to verify or to check what happened with the material, with the 60% high-enriched uranium, I think there will be positive elements on the table that perhaps could help avert this possibility of this wide-ranging sanctions,” he said.
While acknowledging that the snapback move is political, Grossi described the discussions with Iran as “a very straightforward, technical conversation,” centered on the IAEA’s need to inspect certain locations.
China and Russia have submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to extend the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and Resolution 2231 by six months, until 18 April 2026. Both are set to expire on 18 October.
The draft was placed in blue on Thursday, but no vote has been scheduled yet, according to the Security Council Report.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard intelligence unit questioned members of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce this week over a report warning of severe economic fallout if UN sanctions return, sources told Iran International.
The report, published earlier this week, projected the rial could fall to 1.65 million per dollar and inflation could reach 90% under a pessimistic scenario if the snapback mechanism is triggered. The chamber has since retracted the report under pressure, the sources said, and board members have been restricted from publicly commenting on its contents.
Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, criticized the UK, France and Germany on Thursday for invoking the UN snapback mechanism, calling it “a big mistake” and “yet another irresponsible step” that could lead to “a total deadlock.”
