DUBAI, July 31. /TASS/. The political and legal consequences of triggering the snapback mechanism [which entails the reinstatement of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran - TASS] will be negligible, as the relevant UNSC resolutions were never revoked or suspended, international law expert Mohammad Esmaili said in an interview with the Iranian newspaper Farhikhtegan.

"The reactivation of six UN Security Council resolutions against Iran will not have a significant impact [on the country]. Because, frankly, none of them have been canceled or suspended over the past decade," the publication quotes him as saying.

The expert emphasized that the return of sanctions would primarily have a psychological effect on Iranian society. In his view, European threats to invoke the snapback mechanism are driven by their desire to secure a seat at the negotiating table with Iran and gain favor with US President Donald Trump.

Earlier, the Axios news website reported, citing sources, that the US, the UK, Germany and France had agreed on the end of August as the deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran. Otherwise, the European trio plans to launch the snapback mechanism that will reinstate the UN Security Council’s sanctions against Tehran, which were lifted based on agreements made in 2015.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany struck a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 to address the crisis over its nuclear program. Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018. In response to Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, in 2020, Iran scaled back several obligations under the nuclear deal, particularly by suspending inspections by the IAEA beyond the safeguard agreement related to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and prohibiting the use of stringent monitoring measures.

In 2025, five rounds of negotiations between Iran and the US failed to yield significant progress. The diplomatic process was hindered by Israel’s military operation targeting Iran, followed by US strikes on three key sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program. Meanwhile, negotiations with Tehran were conducted by representatives of the EU Three nations (France, Germany, and the UK), who failed to mediate a new agreement on Iran's nuclear program.