The UN Security Council will vote Friday morning on a draft resolution concerning the snapback of sanctions on Iran, a process initiated after European governments declared the country in significant non-performance of the 2015 nuclear deal.
South Korea, as Council president this month, placed the text in blue earlier in September. It contains a single operative paragraph affirming that past sanctions remain terminated, meaning adoption would preserve relief measures under resolution 2231.
European ministers said in an August 28 letter that Iran’s actions left no credible alternative to triggering the mechanism. They pointed to more than 8,400 kilograms of enriched uranium—forty times the agreed limit—including several hundred kilograms enriched to 60 percent. “Iran has yet to take the reasonable and precise actions necessary to reach an extension of resolution 2231,” the German Foreign Office said Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the E3 move while stressing continued room for diplomacy in late August. The United States remains available for direct engagement with Iran in “furtherance of a peaceful, enduring resolution to the Iran nuclear issue,” Rubio said.
Council divisions
China, Russia, and Pakistan are expected to support the draft resolution. Denmark, France, Greece, Panama, Slovenia, the Republic of Korea, the UK, and the US are unlikely to back it, leaving the text short of the nine votes needed for passage. Even if it reached that threshold, the US is expected to veto.
If no resolution is adopted, sanctions suspended since 2015 will automatically return at the end of the 30-day window on September 28. That would reinstate restrictions on uranium enrichment, arms, finance, and shipping linked to Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Negotiations may continue during the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, where China and Russia have circulated an alternative draft extending the deal until April 2026.
“Some of the accusations are at the level of spreading corruption on earth, and if the court proves them, his punishment will be execution,” Kamran Ghazanfari said in an interview with Iran24, referring to a formal charge in the theocracy's law.
“He has already inflicted enough damage and loss on the country. One example is the nuclear deal, which was entirely a loss. He took pride in it.”
The remarks suggest increasing tension within Iran's ruling establishment as geopolitical uncertainty festers following a 12-day war with Israel in June, new international sanctions loom and economic hardship bites.
Ghazanfari said the previous parliament filed eight complaints against Rouhani which were all forwarded to the judiciary. He accused judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei of failing to act, despite a legal obligation to give such cases priority.
“Was Rouhani tried? Was he punished or not? If so, explain. If not, explain why he has not been tried and punished.”
Ghazanfari also referred to another case sent to the judiciary by late President Ebrahim Raisi’s government, accusing Rouhani of involvement in the disappearance of 48 valuable carpets from the Saadabad Palace.
Rouhani’s office at the time rejected the allegation as a political distraction.
Criticism of nuclear deal
Ghazanfari again attacked the nuclear agreement, calling it “entirely a loss.”
“Rouhani should remain silent, rest at home, and not enter such matters,” he said, arguing that when no legal action is taken “He dares to talk big.”
His comments come as Britain, France, and Germany have triggered the nuclear deal’s snapback mechanism against Iran. Western governments have set conditions, including granting the International Atomic Energy Agency access to enriched uranium stockpiles, with a deadline at the end of September.
Under Resolution 2231, sanctions will automatically return after 30 days unless the Security Council votes otherwise.
Rouhani defends dialogue
Rouhani has re-emerged in recent weeks to call for reducing confrontation with the West, including the United States.
“Relations with Europe, our neighbors, and the East and the West, even tension with the US, if we can reduce it, if it is in our national interest, what is wrong with that? Not only is it not wrong, but it is also our duty and obligation,” he told advisers in late August.
Rouhani argued that Iran should pursue talks if they advance national interests and security. In comments on August 14, he described negotiations with the United States as necessary and obligatory.
His remarks was in apparent conflict with the supreme leader's position who on the same day warned against advocating talks with Washington. “Agents of America and Zionism sought to create division inside Iran,” Khamenei said.
The revenge drama, produced largely in France and shot in Iran without government approval, follows a group of former political prisoners confronting a man they believe tortured them decades earlier.
The decision, announced on Wednesday, was made by an 11-member committee convened by France’s culture ministry after reviewing five finalists, including Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague and Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life.
Panahi, long banned from working or traveling in Iran, has spent much of the past 15 years under house arrest or in prison. He was released from jail in 2023 after a hunger strike, and edited the new film in France.
US distributor Neon has acquired the film and is planning an awards campaign, while Mubi has taken international rights.
“This Iranian drama, directed by the great Jafar Panahi and produced with the decisive support of France … is proof that our country, 130 years after inventing cinema, remains the beating heart of international co-productions,” Gaëtan Bruel, head of the CNC film body, said in a statement.
The move also highlights stark contrasts with Iran’s own Oscar choice. A day earlier, Tehran selected Ali Zarnegar’s Cause of Death: Unknown, a moral drama that won praise abroad but was pulled from Iran’s state-run Fajr Festival in 2022. Independent filmmakers in Iran continue to face censorship, surveillance and travel bans.
The 98th Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026.