Iran vows retaliation if UN Security Council issues snapback sanctions on anniversary of nuclear deal

Iran on Monday warned that it would retaliate if the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) took steps to impose "snapback" sanctions as nations mull further action to halt Tehran’s nuclear development. 

"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from the Islamic Republic of Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei claimed during a press conference, according to a Reuters report.

Baghaei did not expand on how Iran would retaliate, but his threats come amid repeated warnings from security experts that time is running out to enforce the sanction mechanism by Oct. 18 under terms dictated by the 2015 nuclear deal. 

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The comments coincided with the 10-year anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was originally intended to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but which some have argued was insufficient to adequately deter Tehran. 

Under the terms of the JCPOA, any signatory can unilaterally call up snapback sanctions if Iran is found to have violated the terms of the agreement. 

Though the U.S., which, alongside the U.K., France, Germany, China and Russia, signed the 2015 deal, was deemed by the U.N. and other JCPOA members unable to utilize the mechanism after Washington withdrew from the agreement in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Despite repeated calls by the U.S. to enforce snapback – which would legally enforce all 15 U.N. members on the council, including Russia, to reimpose sanctions on Iran – no one on the UNSC or JCPOA has yet taken steps to enforce the sanctions. 

"I would say one of the few good things about the JCPOA is that it reverse engineers the veto in the sense that you really only need one of the permanent members to be able to do this," Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Iran orogram told Fox News Digital. "But why is no one doing it? It's because it's a risky move. 

"I think it's a worthwhile move, but we have to be honest – it's a risky move," he added. 

Ben Taleblu explained that Iran’s most likely response to the severe sanctions under the snapback mechanism would be its abandonment of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) – an international agreement that over 190 nations have signed, pledging either not to transfer weapons to another recipient by nuclear-capable nations, or not to develop atomic arms by non-nuclear nations, among other commitments. 

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The terms of the agreement are monitored by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency – which Iran has already suspended cooperation with following U.S. and Israeli strikes against its nuclear program last month. 

"In a world in which Iran's most likely response is to leave the NPT, one has to be confident in at least the ability of military threats to deter Iran further, or at least the credibility of America's and Israel’s, or the international community's, military options against Iran moving forward," Ben Taleblu said. 

"The problem is the lack of a game plan. Has America provided Europe with a game plan, a road map for post-snapback?" he added, noting there needs to be a much larger strategy for next steps should sanctions be reinforced.

Though the U.S. assesses that Iran’s nuclear program has been stunted by up to two years, experts remain convinced that Tehran’s atomic ambitions have not been deterred, and its ties to terrorist networks and adversarial nations mean it remains a top security concern.

Trump has said he is still committed to negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program, though questions remain over how long he will continue to allow negotiations to drag out before a European nation like the U.K., France or Germany must step in to enact snapback sanctions not only before the October deadline, but before Russia takes over control of the UNSC presidency that month.

Pushing through the snapback mechanism is expected to be a roughly six-week process. 

Reports on Sunday suggested that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz could call up the snapback measures as soon as Tuesday, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee championed the move in a post on X. 

But Fox News Digital could not independently verify these claims and the German Foreign Ministry told Israeli news outlet JNS that the claims were incorrect. 

The chancellor’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions.