The United Nations, led by the so-called European 3 -- Britain, France, and Germany -- appears set to reimpose wide-ranging "snapback" sanctions on Iran after the Security Council rejected a last-minute bid by Russia and China to delay the action.
Absent an extraordinary 11th-hour deal, the UN will at 8 p.m. Eastern time on September 27 reintroduce a series of measures against Iran.
These include a conventional arms embargo, restrictions on activities related to ballistic missiles, a ban on reprocessing and enrichment of uranium, a global asset freeze, and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities.
"This council does not have the necessary assurance that there is a clear path to a swift diplomatic solution," Barbara Woodward, Britain's ambassador to the UN, said on September 26.
"UN sanctions, targeting Iranian proliferation, will be reimposed this weekend."
Tehran immediately blasted the UN action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told the Security Council that the "pursuit of the so-called 'snapback' is clear and consistent -- it is legally void, politically reckless, and procedurally flawed."
He said Tehran will "never bow" to pressure on its nuclear program, which it says is strictly for civilian purposes, and insisted the country is not seeking nuclear weapons.
Despite his defiant remarks, Aragchi left the door open to further talks during the final 24 hours before sanctions are to take effect.
"Diplomacy never dies," he said.
Punitive measures on Iran were lifted as part of a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. European signatories of the accord accuse Tehran of violating the agreement.
As part of the process, the Security Council had to vote within 30 days on a resolution to continue Iran's sanctions relief, requiring at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, or France to pass.
It voted on such a resolution on September 19, but it failed to pass.
Earlier on September 26, the Security Council rejected a last-ditch bid by Russia and China to delay the reimposition of the sanctions on Iran.
The two countries, both with close ties to Tehran, put forward a draft resolution that would give another half-year for talks, or until April 18, 2026, diplomats told news outlets, but the motion did not receive enough votes in the Security Council.
"We had hoped that us, that European colleagues in the US, would think twice, and that they would opt for the path of diplomacy and dialog, instead of their clumsy blackmail," Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told the council ahead of the vote.
"Did Washington, London, Paris, Berlin make any compromises? No, they did not," he said.
China, Russia, Pakistan, and Algeria in the council supported giving Iran another six months. Nine countries voted no and two abstained.
Following the vote, Polyansky told the council that "there has been no snapback and there will be no snapback. Any moves to resuscitate anti-Iranian Security Council resolutions, which were in effect prior to 2013, are null and void."
Polyansky did not elaborate, and it wasn't immediately clear how Russia would move to stop the reimposition of sanctions.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the snapback won't have an impact if the sanctions aren't enforced. That is the next battle for Washington and its European allies.
"My eye will be on: Will the Trump administration and the Europeans be able to recreate a panel of experts to deal with sanctions enforcement in 2025," he told RFE/RL.
"That's how I will judge if the snapback is a success. It's not about this bureaucratic fight -- it's about the bureaucratic fights yet to come [over enforcement]."
The E3 had said they would be willing to extend the deadline if Iran complied with a series of conditions, including direct negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program, allowing UN nuclear inspectors access to nuclear sites, and accounting for the more than 400 kilograms highly enriched uranium that the IAEA says Tehran holds.
Aragchi and the IAEA on September 26 both said a team of inspectors from the UN watchdog were now in Iran, although details were kept confidential.
The Europeans said this was not enough to prevent reimposition of sanctions on September 27.
In comments to reporters after the vote, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian said his country was prepared to be "transparent about our highly enriched uranium." But he added that the "wall of mistrust" between Tehran and Washington is "quite high."
The new penalties will come on top of existing sanctions against Iran -- measures that have severely crippled the Iranian economy.
Iranian officials have attempted to downplay the impact of the return of UN sanctions, but experts said they would hit Iran hard, weaking the currency, among other things.
