Think Again About the Iran Sanctions Snapback

The Trump administration’s policy toward Iran seems increasingly guided by the desire to look tough between now and November’s election, regardless of the long-term harm its maneuvers are doing to U.S. interests. Its latest initiative is to try and force the so-called snapback of international sanctions against Iran — under the terms of an agreement the U.S. earlier chose to abandon. This approach is unlikely to succeed and threatens only to drive yet another wedge between America and its friends.

Last month, President Trump and his team failed to persuade the United Nations Security Council to extend a conventional arms embargo on Iran. Instead, they are seeking to achieve the same end by invoking a provision of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that allows participants to reimpose multilateral sanctions. The pact’s other signatories argue the U.S. no longer has any right to do so given its 2018 withdrawal from the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).