UN snapback sanctions tighten pressure on Iran amid inflation, food shortages and war fears
The UN has reimposed “snapback” sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, freezing assets, halting arms deals, and targeting its missile development. Already hit by record inflation and food shortages, Iranians now face deeper economic pain and growing fears of conflict.
Dubai: The United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran early Sunday over its nuclear programme, further squeezing the Islamic Republic as its people increasingly find themselves priced out of the food they need to survive and worried about their futures.
After last-minute diplomacy failed at the UN, the sanctions took effect Sunday at 0000 GMT (8 pm Eastern).
The sanctions will again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran, and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile programme, among other measures. It came via a mechanism known as “snapback”, included in Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, and comes as Iran’s economy already is reeling.
Iran’s rial currency sits at a record low, increasing pressure on food prices and making daily life that much more challenging. That includes meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table.
Meanwhile, people worry about a new round of fighting between Iran and Israel — as well as potentially the United States — as missile sites struck during the 12-day war in June now appear to be being rebuilt.
Activists fear a rising wave of repression within the Islamic Republic, which already has reportedly executed more people this year than over the past three decades.
Sina, the father of a 12-year-old boy who spoke on condition that only his first name be used for fear of repercussions, said the country has never faced such a challenging time, even during the deprivations of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and the decades of sanctions that came later.
“For as long as I can remember, we’ve been struggling with economic hardship, and every year it’s worse than the last,” Sina told The Associated Press. “For my generation, it’s always either too late or too early — our dreams are slipping away.” Snapback was designed to be veto-proof at the UN Security Council, meaning China and Russia could not stop it alone, as they have other proposed actions against Tehran in the past.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered snapback over Iran 30 days ago for its further restricting monitoring of its nuclear program and the deadlock over its negotiations with the US.
Iran further withdrew from the International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring after Israel’s war on the country in June, which also saw the US strike nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, the country still maintains a stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent — that is largely enough to make several atomic bombs, should Tehran choose to rush toward weaponisation. Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful, though the West and IAEA say Tehran had an organised weapons programme up until 2003.
Tehran has further argued that the three European nations shouldn’t be allowed to implement snapback, pointing in part to America’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018, during the first term of President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The Trump administration appears to think it has a stronger hand post-strikes, and it can wait for Iran to come back to the table,” said Kelsey Davenport, a nuclear expert at the Washington-based Arms Control Association. “Given the knowledge Iran has, given the materials that remain in Iran, that’s a very dangerous assumption.”
Risks also remain for Iran as well, she added: “In the short term, kicking out the IAEA increases the risk of miscalculation. The US or Israel could use the lack of inspections as a pretext for further strikes.” Iran on Saturday recalled its ambassadors to France, Germany and the UK for consultations ahead of the sanctions being reimposed, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
