Tehran, September 27 (H.S.): A new round of sweeping international sanctions against Iran is scheduled to take effect on Saturday night, reimposing restrictions that had been lifted a decade ago under the 2015 nuclear agreement. The measures come as last-ditch diplomatic efforts appear to be failing after the UK, France and Germany accused Tehran of breaching its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The European powers triggered a dispute mechanism last month at the UN Security Council, giving Iran 30 days to strike a compromise. With no breakthrough in sight, the sanctions are expected to snap back automatically.
Iran has rejected the move as “illegal” and has threatened to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if the restrictions are reinstated. The clash is rooted in the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2016 under President Donald Trump, who dismissed the accord as flawed. Since then, Iran has escalated its nuclear activity, including uranium enrichment, in defiance of the agreement. Tensions further deepened in June when U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites after faltering negotiations aimed at reaching a new deal. In response, Tehran blocked IAEA inspectors’ access despite being bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
If imposed, the sanctions will deliver a severe blow to Iran’s economy and military capacity, reviving bans on uranium enrichment and ballistic missile-linked activities, freezing assets, enforcing travel restrictions on officials, extending a global arms embargo, and authorising the inspection of Iranian cargo by air and sea. United Nations sanctions would come into force immediately, with the European Union preparing to reimpose its own measures next week.
Western governments and the IAEA remain unconvinced by Iran’s assurances that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful and limited to civilian purposes. Tehran insists it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and accuses Western powers of politicising what it calls technical disagreements. Negotiations in Vienna this week between Iranian representatives and the IAEA have so far failed to break the deadlock. As the deadline approaches, observers warn that renewed sanctions risk intensifying confrontation with Tehran and further destabilising the already fragile balance in the wider Middle East.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
