WASHINGTON — The United States welcomed on Thursday the decision by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to initiate a process under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 to reimpose international sanctions on Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the European allies, known as the E3, “have laid out a clear case of Iran’s continuing ‘significant non-performance’ of its nuclear commitments, establishing a strong basis for initiating snapback.”
Rubio noted that the E3 “could have initiated snapback at any point since 2019 but chose instead to first pursue intensive outreach and engagement — to provide Iran with a diplomatic offramp from its strategy of nuclear escalation.”
“The United States appreciates the leadership of our E3 allies in this effort,” Rubio said. “Over the coming weeks, we will work with them and other members of the U.N. Security Council to successfully complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran, as the President instructed in National Security Presidential Memorandum 2.”
Rubio emphasized that the snapback does not rule out diplomacy. “At the same time, the United States remains available for direct engagement with Iran — in furtherance of a peaceful, enduring resolution to the Iran nuclear issue. Snapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy, it only enhances it,” he said.
He urged Iranian leaders “to take the immediate steps necessary to ensure that their nation will never obtain a nuclear weapon; to walk the path of peace; and to, by extension, advance prosperity for the Iranian people.”
