US, allies agree August deadline for Iran nuclear deal: Report

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK agreed in a phone call on Monday to set the end of August as the de facto deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, Axios reported, citing three sources.

If no deal is reached by that deadline, the three European powers plan to trigger the “snapback” mechanism that automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran deal, according to the Axios report.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday France, the UK and Germany will launch the UN snapback mechanism on Iran by the end of August at the latest if no concrete progress has been made on a nuclear deal by then.

“France and its partners are ... justified in reapplying global embargoes on arms, banks, and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,” Barrot told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels.

The “snapback mechanism” is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran said Monday it would react to any reimposition of UN sanctions over its nuclear program, without elaborating on what actions it might take.

With Reuters