Macron says “snapback” of UN sanctions on Iran is done deal

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that "snapback" sanctions against Iran will be triggered at the end of September.

Macron's comments in an interview with Israel's Channel 12 signal that efforts to reach a deal between the European powers and Iran have failed. Iran will face even greater economic harm, and international monitors will have virtually no oversight of Iran's nuclear material and facilities.

The UN Security Council is expected to vote next week on restoring UN sanctions against Iran, which could be reimposed by Sep. 27.

The Iranians have threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in response, but European diplomats think they won't go that far.

The "snapback" mechanism automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Iran argues that it never received the full benefits of that deal, from which the U.S. withdrew in 2018, and that it's illegitimate to impose punishments for noncompliance.

Iranian officials have also scoffed at the demand that they return to nuclear talks with the Trump administration, given they were doing so right up until Israel and the U.S. bombed them.