U.N. Security Council to vote on Iran sanctions extension as six‑month delay sought

The United Nations Security Council is set to vote Friday on a resolution drafted by Russia and China that would give Iran a six‑month extension before sanctions tied to its nuclear program are reimposed. The move comes as Britain, France and Germany, the E3, triggered the snapback mechanism last month after accusing Tehran of failing to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal. The 15‑member council is expected to vote on the measure, but analysts say it is unlikely to garner enough support to pass. A separate set of sanctions outlined in the nuclear deal is due to take effect this weekend, intensifying pressure on Tehran. The penalties would freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran, and restrict development of its ballistic missile program, among other steps that would further squeeze its economy.

Backers of the six‑month extension argue it would provide the time and space for diplomacy, while opponents say the measure would enable Tehran to delay accountability and resurface negotiations that have yet to yield results. The extension would apply only if Iran agrees to meet a series of conditions tied to the JCPOA, including resuming direct negotiations with the United States, granting U.N. inspectors access to nuclear sites, and accounting for more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, as reported by the IAEA.

Iranian officials have defended their position, saying they have proposed multiple pathways to keep diplomacy open. But on social media, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the E3 had failed to reciprocate while the United States had doubled down on its demands, urging the Security Council to back the extension to buy time for diplomacy. In New York, Araghchi has been meeting with his French, British and German counterparts in the run‑up to the U.N. General Assembly, though a European diplomat told the Associated Press that those talks produced no new developments and that the snapback would proceed as planned.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has suggested that peace talks with the United States are a dead end, further constraining potential late‑stage diplomacy. European officials say they would consider extending the deadline only if Tehran meets the list of demands, including direct negotiations with Washington, inspector access, and full accounting of enriched uranium stocks. Among non‑nuclear weapon states, Iran is the only country that currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, a short technical step from weapons‑grade material.

Earlier this month, the IAEA and Iran signed a Cairo‑mediated agreement to resume cooperation, including on reviving inspections, but Tehran has threatened to terminate that agreement should U.N. sanctions be reimposed. A diplomat close to the IAEA confirmed that inspectors are in Iran, inspecting a second undamaged site, and will not leave the country ahead of the expected reimposition of sanctions. IAEA inspectors also observed a fuel replacement at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Aug. 27 and 28. Europeans have said that such inspections alone are not enough to halt the sanctions from taking effect on Saturday.

The move is expected to heighten already magnified tensions between Iran and the West, a dynamic underscored by ongoing debates over the JCPOA. Iran has previously warned it could withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, potentially pursuing a path similar to North Korea, which abandoned the treaty in 2003 and later built atomic weapons. The sanctions fight thus remains a fulcrum of broader regional and strategic friction across the world stage.