July 22, 2025 — Paris
American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO Ted Deutch said European nations have the “legal authority” and “moral responsibility” to trigger snapback sanctions against the Iranian regime for its pursuit of nuclear capabilities in defiance of its obligations under international agreements.
In a letter to the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom--known as the E3--as well as the European Union’s High Representative, Deutch stated that the danger posed by the Iranian regime is “clear, present, and escalating” due to its refusal to comply with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the formal name of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Iran and the European nations are a party to.
“Europe is already within reach of this threat. Iranian agents have been linked to assassination plots, hostage-taking, bombings, and terror financing on European soil,” Deutch wrote. “A nuclear-armed Iran would dramatically heighten these dangers, granting the regime the ability to coerce, intimidate, and blackmail the West with impunity.”
The snapback sanctions are a provision in the JCPOA that allows for the immediate reimposition of U.N. sanctions if Iran violates its commitments under the deal.
After Israel, with support from the U.S., struck Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in June, the regime in Tehran announced it would accelerate uranium enrichment—violating both the JCPOA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it ratified in 1970.
“If the Iranian regime does not reverse course immediately, the E3 not only has the legal authority but the moral responsibility to trigger snapback sanctions without further delay,” Deutch wrote.
The full letter is here.
