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The E3 (United Kingdom, France, and Germany) stated on September 17 that Iran has not taken any concrete steps required to delay the snapback mechanism. The E3 triggered the 30-day Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) snapback process on August 28. The UN Security Council will reimpose sanctions on Iran when the 30-day process concludes on September 27 unless Iran meets the criteria laid out under the JCPOA. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone call with the foreign ministers of the E3 and EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas on September 17 to discuss snapback sanctions. The E3 previously offered to extend the deadline by six months if Iran restored full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), resumed negotiations with the United States, and accounted for its 60 percent enriched uranium stockpile. Iran signed an agreement with the IAEA on September 9 that set procedures for inspections on all Iranian nuclear facilities, but only within parameters set by Iran. The agreement also did not provide a timeline for inspections or clarification about the whereabouts of its remaining stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium. Araghchi stated on September 11 that the evaluation of enriched material buried under the rubble is still under review and will be submitted to the Supreme National Security Council, which will make the final decision based on Iran’s security concerns. European states remain unconvinced that Iran’s steps with the IAEA are serious. Kallas separately warned on September 17 that the “window for finding a diplomatic solution” on Iran’s nuclear issue is closing and added that Iran must take ”credible steps“ to meet E3 demands. Germany’s Foreign Ministry similarly stated that Iran has yet to take “reasonable and precise actions.” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper also stated that Iran has not taken the necessary steps to avoid the reimposition of snapback sanctions and emphasized that the UK needs “concrete action.”
The US State Department designated Iranian-backed Iraqi militias Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al Shuhada, Kataib Imam Ali, and Harakat Ansar Allah al Awfiya as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) on September 17. These four militias are part of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, which is a coalition of Iranian-backed militias that consistently conducted attacks targeting US forces in Iraq and Syria between October 2023 and January 2024. US federal law makes it a crime for any person in the United States or subject to US jurisdiction to knowingly provide “material support or resources,” including financial services, training, or weapons, to a designated FTO. The United States Treasury Department previously designated these militias and their leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). The US Treasury Department has the authority to block the assets of SDGTs and any individual or entity that provides them with support or services. US individuals or entities are also prohibited, with limited exemptions, from engaging in any transaction with a designated SDGT. These designations come as the United States continues to pressure the Iraqi government to limit Iranian influence in Iraq and disarm Iran-backed militias by threatening sanctions.
The Suwayda Autonomous Government rejected a US-Syrian-Jordanian roadmap to resolve intercommunal violence in Suwayda Province. The rejection will complicate the transitional government’s effort to reconcile with the province and eventually integrate it into the state. The United States, Syria, and Jordan announced a plan to “guarantee rights” and “promote societal reconciliation” in Suwayda Province on September 16. The anti-government Suwaydawis were not included in the creation of the roadmap, which decreased the likelihood that the roadmap would succeed. The roadmap seeks to set up short and medium-term security and administrative arrangements to facilitate the province’s eventual integration into the Syrian state and commits the Syrian government to forming an independent commission for crimes committed in Suwayda. The autonomous Suwayda government’s judicial committee denounced the US-Syrian-Jordanian plan on September 16. The body criticized the roadmap’s reliance on a “corrupt” Syrian judicial system and on the Syrian government as a “neutral party.” The committee—in tandem with its military wing, which is comprised of about 40 Druze militias—provides administrative services and security to communities in central, southern, and eastern Suwayda, while pro-government forces maintain control in Suwayda’s northern and western countrysides. The committee argued in its denunciation of the roadmap that the violence committed in Suwayda in July 2025 justified the people of Suwayda’s right to ”self-determination.” The committee noted that self-determination may include either “self-administration” or “secession” from Syria. The Suwayda Autonomous Government’s denunciation of the roadmap contrasts with reactions from Syrian government allies and other regional powers. France, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain all released statements welcoming the plan on September 16 and 17.
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