This press release in German is online here at dpa Newsroom

August 28, Berlin

This week's talks with the Iranian regime in Geneva have shown that the nuclear negotiations are at an impasse. It is to be feared that Tehran is playing for time so that it can legally continue its nuclear program after the JCPOA expires in October this year. The Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin (MFFB) calls on the German government and the EU to take immediate action. Activating the JCPOA's snapback mechanism and the associated return to the UN sanctions regime in force until 2015 is necessary to regain a decisively strong position vis-à-vis Tehran. Extending the deadline until the JCPOA finally expires, thereby deviating from the E3's ultimatum of August 31, signals weakness to Tehran rather than a willingness to negotiate.
  

There are only a few days left to take this step. Otherwise, Europe will lose any chance of having a real, lasting impact on the regime. At the same time, Tehran's numerous binding obligations under international law to limit its nuclear program will also be permanently waived. A return to such extensive sanctions by the UN Security Council is basically out of the question given the current global political situation.
 

Michael Spaney, director of the Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin, warns: “An E3 that does not activate the snapback now is voluntarily and unnecessarily giving up the last reason that makes Europe a serious counterpart in the nuclear game. Once the old UN sanctions regime is finally off the table, there will be no reason for Tehran to involve Europe in anything.”
 

As things stand, Tehran has been allowed to develop, test, and export ballistic missiles on a large scale again since October 2023. The import and export of heavy weapons systems is also no longer prohibited by UN sanctions. With the expiry of the JCPOA in October 2025, additional international sanctions limiting research into nuclear material, the development and manufacture of enrichment facilities, and uranium enrichment will also be lifted. Enrichment levels and quantities will no longer be restricted. The path to becoming a nuclear threshold state will then be open under international law. This will not remain without consequences in the region.
 

“The prospect of the Islamic Republic becoming a nuclear threshold state will trigger an arms race in the region. At the same time, the risk of another war over Iran's nuclear program will increase enormously,” emphasizes Michael Spaney. “Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states would compete with Iran in the nuclear arena. Israel rightly sees itself as existentially threatened by the regime in Tehran and would, as it did in June of this year, take military action against nuclear facilities in Iran.”
 It is the responsibility of Germany and the E3 to resolutely oppose Tehran's ambitions. The most appropriate means of doing so is to immediately activate the JCPOA's snapback mechanism. The MFFB therefore urges the German government to activate the snapback mechanism now.