The Colossal 'Snapback' Error

The three European governments risk driving Iran to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

France, Britain, and Germany are about to make a colossal error:

The UK, France and Germany were preparing on Thursday to trigger a UN process to reimpose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, European officials have said, in a move that would heighten tensions between the west and Tehran.

The three European governments risk driving Iran to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Even if Iran doesn’t quit the treaty entirely, it is practically guaranteed that their government would no longer cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As an Iranian diplomat said this week, it will make “no sense” for Iran to cooperate with inspectors if the sanctions are put back on. It is likely that Iran would then rebuild and expand their program even more. Using the snapback mechanism is insane, and it makes a new crisis over the nuclear issue more likely rather than less.