Sweeping UN ‘snapback’ sanctions are reimposed on Iran after nuclear talks fail

Two women walk past a huge banner showing the late commander of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone attack in 2020, and two late Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah, center, and Hashem Safieddine, who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in 2024, at the Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) square, in Tehran, Iran, September 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Two women walk past a huge banner showing the late commander of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone attack in 2020, and two late Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah, center, and Hashem Safieddine, who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in 2024, at the Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) square, in Tehran, Iran, September 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Widespread UN sanctions against Iran return into force for the first time in a decade, after last-ditch nuclear talks with Western powers failed to produce a breakthrough.

The sanctions, two months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran, bar dealings related to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missiles program but are expected to have wider effects on a troubled economy.

Iran allowed UN inspectors to return to its nuclear sites, but Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said the United States offered only a short reprieve in return for handing over its whole stockpile of enriched uranium, a proposal he described as unacceptable.

An 11th-hour effort by Iran allies Russia and China to postpone the sanctions until April failed to win enough votes in the Security Council on Friday, leading to the measures taking effect at midnight GMT, or 3 a.m. Israel time.

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