UN sanctions on Iran resumed in September 2025 after the conclusion of the ‘snapback’ mechanism under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), an agreement between Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council which had terminated UN sanctions on Iran between 2016 and 2025.
Between 2016 and 2025, the EU and the UK imposed autonomous sanctions on Iran related to human rights and Iran’s nuclear programme. In September 2025, the EU and the UK reimposed UN sanctions by designating Iranian people and entities listed by the UN and modifying lists of controlled items to conform with UN Security Council control lists.
The US withdrew from the JCPoA in 2018 and imposes autonomous sanctions on Iran. The EU and UK have blocking statutes to block the extra-territorial effects of some of the US’s Iran sanctions.
