Iran Sanctions Reinstated: Middle East Crisis Deepens As Nuclear Deal Collapses

Editorial

15:00 JST, September 30, 2025

The U.N. sanctions against Iran that were suspended under the 2015 nuclear agreement have been reinstated.

While reinstatement was unavoidable given Iran’s failure to live up to its commitments, the nuclear deal has effectively collapsed, and the chance for a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear issue has further diminished. It is an alarming situation in which the nuclear nonproliferation regime has been undermined and the crisis in the Middle East has further deepened.

In 2015, Iran and a group of six countries — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China — reached an intergovernmental agreement to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on the country’s nuclear development. However, this time, the United Kingdom, France and Germany led the reinstatement of the sanctions, citing “Iran’s persistent and significant non-performance of its [nuclear deal] commitments.”

With the sanctions reinstated, arms exports and transfer of nuclear-related materials to Iran are prohibited, and the assets of individuals and entities involved in nuclear development will be frozen.

Iran has been working on its nuclear development program for more than two decades in a non-transparent manner, including secret construction of uranium enrichment facilities. It is difficult to say that Iran was cooperative with International Atomic Energy Agency inspections, even after the nuclear deal was agreed upon.

The nuclear deal was expected to serve as a multilateral framework to curb Iran’s reckless behavior, so it is extremely regrettable that it has lost its effectiveness after 10 years.

The nuclear deal began to fall apart in 2018, when the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it and reinstated sanctions of its own against Iran.

In protest, Iran produced and stockpiled large quantities of highly enriched uranium, far exceeding the level set in the nuclear deal. It is believed that Iran has already acquired enough highly enriched uranium for nine nuclear bombs, making the crisis more severe than it was a decade ago.

In response to the reinstatement of the sanctions, Iran has started considering countermeasures, including withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). However, withdrawing from the NPT would effectively negate Iran’s own assertion that its nuclear development is for peaceful purposes.

Meanwhile, China and Russia submitted a resolution to the U.N. Security Council to block the sanctions from being reinstated, but it was vetoed. China purchases Iranian crude oil, and Russia is cooperating more with Iran in the military field. Moves that would reduce the pressure on Iran cannot be allowed.

In June, while continuing nuclear talks with Iran, the Trump administration allowed Israel to attack Iran, and the United States itself carried out airstrikes on underground uranium enrichment facilities in Iran.

The extent of the damage is unclear, but Iran has indicated that it intends to continue its nuclear development. This could provide the United States and Israel with a pretext for renewed attacks, potentially escalating the conflict in the Middle East.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany are calling on Iran to engage in dialogue, saying, “The reimposition of U.N. sanctions is not the end of diplomacy.” Japan should also intensify its efforts to influence Iran.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 30, 2025)