France won't hesitate to restore UN sanctions on Iran if no deal, says foreign minister

France will not think twice about reimposing United Nations sanctions on Iran if negotiations to reach a deal over its nuclear programme do not succeed, its foreign minister told the U.N. Security Council late on Monday.

France, Britain and Germany - the "E3" - are parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that expires in October and have the power to initiate its mechanism for reimposing sanctions, called snapback, at the Security Council.

"It goes without saying that when the Iranian nuclear deal expires in a few weeks, if European security interests are not guaranteed, we will not hesitate for a single second to reapply all the sanctions that were lifted 10 years ago," Jean-Noel Barrot said.

Iran and the United States, which quit the 2015 deal and reimposed its own sanctions, have been holding talks on the decades-old standoff.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is confident of clinching a new pact that would block Iran's path to a nuclear bomb, although Iran says its programme is purely civilian.

According to diplomats, the E3 countries are now looking to trigger snapback by August, rather than June, if no substantial deal can be found by then. The opportunity expires on October 18.

"These sanctions would then permanently close off Iranian access to technology, investment, and the European market, with devastating effects on the country's economy. This is not what we want, and that is why I solemnly call on Iran to take the necessary decisions today to avoid the worst," Barrot said.

Iran has proposed meeting the E3, possibly in Rome this Friday, if talks resume with the United States, four diplomats said on Monday, cautioning that the E3 have yet to respond.