Snapback: what would renewed UN sanctions mean for Iran’s struggling economy?

France 24

Sept5th2025

By Bahar Makoiee

Iran is facing the risk of renewed UN sanctions on October 18 under the “snapback” mechanism, which automatically puts punitive measures back in place on Tehran if it is deemed to have failed to uphold the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Already financially strangled by US and European sanctions, the Islamic Republic could soon find itself once again facing absolute diplomatic isolation.

Iran is already one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, some of which have been in place since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

The 2015 nuclear deal, which led to a partial lifting of UN sanctions, gave the Islamic Republic a few years of breathing room – a brief respite that came to an abrupt end with the US’s unilateral withdrawal from the deal in 2018 under the once and future President Donald Trump. Washington reimposed heavy sanctions hitting the country’s oil, aerospace and mining sectors, as well as banning the use of US dollars in commercial transactions with Tehran.

Beyond the US sanctions, the European Union has also hit Iran with its own slew of punitive measures, first in 2011 in response to what it described as severe human rights violations in the country and more recently in 2022 after the outbreak of the “Woman, life, freedom” protest movement and its violent suppression by Iranian authorities. The Europeans also sanctioned Tehran for its continued production of highly enriched uranium and its military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. These sanctions have been extended until at least April 2026.

The sanctions include bans on importing Iranian natural gas and crude oil, selling arms or other equipment that could be used for domestic repression as well as any commercial dealings with groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. A raft of financial restrictions has targeted Iranian banks, and the country itself has been cut off from the global SWIFT payments system.

‘An international law dimension’

Little by little, these measures have left the country’s financial sector completely cut off from the wider world. So given that Iran is already one of the most heavily sanctioned on the planet, what more will renewed UN sanctions actually do?

Last Friday, France, the UK and Germany gave Iran one month to make a deal over its nuclear programme. Unless an agreement is reached, the “snapback” procedure endorsed in the original nuclear deal will within 30 days reimpose a slew of UN sanctions: an arms embargo, a ban on developing or testing ballistic missiles, a freezing of financial assets and travel restrictions on senior Iranian officials.

The measures would also hit the country’s nuclear industry, entirely banning the enriching or processing of uranium. Several nuclear, maritime and aeronautical cooperation projects would also be suspended, as well as specific exports.