By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN, Associated Press

VIENNA (AP) — France, Britain and Germany have threatened to trigger the “ snapback mechanism ” that automatically reimposes all United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, saying Iran has willfully departed from their 2015 nuclear deal that lifted them.

The European countries, known as the E3, offered Iran a delay of the snapback during talks in July in exchange for three conditions for Iran: resuming negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program, allowing U.N. nuclear inspectors access to its nuclear sites, and accounting for the over 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium the U.N. watchdog says it has.

Tehran, which now enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels, has rejected that proposal.

The U.S. and Iran tried to reach a new nuclear deal earlier this year, but those talks have not resumed since the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites and the U.S. bombardment on June 22.

How snapback works

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached between world powers and Iran in 2015, Iran agreed to limit uranium enrichment to levels necessary for civilian nuclear power in exchange for lifted economic sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency was tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear program.

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The snapback mechanism’s purpose is to swiftly reimpose all pre-deal sanctions without being vetoed by U.N. Security Council members, including permanent members Russia and China.

The process begins when one or more nuclear deal participants notify the U.N. secretary general and Security Council president about Iran’s “significant non-performance of commitments.”

That triggers a 30-day window during which a new resolution to continue sanctions relief must be adopted. Since that’s unlikely, as the U.S., Britain and France would veto such a resolution, all U.N. sanctions automatically “snap back.” At this stage, no further vote is needed and no Security Council member can block reimposition.

The snapback mechanism expires in October

The Europeans agreed with the U.S. earlier this year to set an end-of-August deadline for triggering the snapback mechanism if no agreement is reached with Iran.

The U.S. itself cannot activate the snapback since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal in 2018.

Two factors drive the approaching deadline.

First, the power to automatically snap back sanctions expires on Oct. 18. After that, sanctions efforts could face vetoes from China and Russia, which have provided some support to Iran in the past.

Second, Europeans want to trigger the snapback mechanism under South Korea’s Security Council presidency in September, before Russia takes over in October. While Russia cannot veto the reimposition of sanctions under the mechanism, diplomats say Moscow could use procedural delaying tactics until the nuclear deal expires.

The E3’s position

European nations assert that Iran has “willfully and publicly departed” from the nuclear deal’s commitments.

In May, the IAEA said Iran had amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity. If it is enriched to 90%, it would be enough to make nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick, though a weapon would require other expertise, such as a detonation device.

The IAEA also estimated that as of May 17, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stood at 9,247.6 kilograms (20,387.4 pounds).

The amounts far exceed the limits set out in the nuclear deal, under which Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% and maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms.

In addition, in 2022, Iran removed most monitoring equipment, including IAEA cameras. A year later, Iran barred some of the agency’s most experienced inspectors.

Iran’s position

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program serves peaceful purposes only. Tehran also argues that it has the right to abandon the nuclear deal’s limits because Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed its own sanctions.

Before 2019, when Iran gradually began to breach the deal’s limits, the IAEA confirmed Tehran adhered to all commitments.

Iran contends there is no legal basis for the Europeans to reimpose U.N. sanctions via snapback, claiming the countries failed to uphold the accord after the U.S. exit.

Tehran has also threatened to withdraw from the global Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons if snapback is triggered. By ratifying the NPT in 1970, Iran committed to not developing nuclear weapons.

Other options

Once the snapback mechanism is triggered, there remains a slim chance for a diplomatic solution, said Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.

If the West and Iran reach a diplomatic agreement within the 30-day window, a resolution could be introduced to push back the mechanism’s Oct. 18 expiration date, he said.

“The timing is, in one sense, auspicious because it overlaps with the U.N. General Assembly’s annual high-level week, which will bring to New York high-level leaders who could huddle over ways to head off execution,” he said.

But he added that the snapback issue is likely to resurface unless Washington and Tehran can hammer out a new nuclear deal.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the Senate’s century-old tradition of allowing home state senators to sign off on some federal judge and U.S. attorney nominees is “old and outdated.” Republican senators disagree.

Trump has been complaining about what’s called the blue slip process for weeks and has pushed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to abandon the practice. But the veteran senator hasn’t budged. On Monday, Trump said he may sue, arguing that he can only get “weak” judges approved in states that have at least one Democratic senator.

“This is based on an old custom. It’s not based on a law. And I think it’s unconstitutional,” Trump told reporters. “And I’ll probably be filing a suit on that pretty soon.”

A look at the blue slip process and why Republicans are holding on to it, for now:

Trump faces rare pushback from Republicans

It’s unclear who Trump would sue or how such a lawsuit would work since the Senate sets its own rules. And Senate Republicans have been unbowed, arguing that they used the process to their own benefit when Democrat Joe Biden was president. They say they will want the practice to be in place if they are in the minority again.

Republicans also note that judges who don’t receive approval from their home state senators are unlikely to have enough votes for confirmation, anyway.

“In Biden admin Republicans kept 30 LIBERALS OFF BENCH THAT PRES TRUMP CAN NOW FILL W CONSERVATIVES,” Grassley posted on X shortly after Trump’s remarks on Monday.

FILE – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, arrives to advance President Donald Trump’s nominees for the federal bench, including Emil Bove, Trump’s former defense lawyer, at the Capitol in Washington, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican member of the judiciary committee, posted on X that getting rid of the blue slip “is a terrible, short-sighted ploy that paves the path for Democrats to ram through extremist liberal judges in red states over the long-term.”

Republicans “shouldn’t fall for it,” Tillis wrote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has also defended blue slips, saying in the past that he had used the process himself and worked with the Biden administration when there was a judicial vacancy in South Dakota. “I don’t sense any rush to change it,” Thune said.

It’s a longstanding practice, though it’s evolved

The blue slip is a blue-colored form that is submitted to the two home state senators after the president nominates someone to become a district judge or U.S. attorney, among other federal positions that are contained within one state.

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The home state senators can individually return the slips with a positive or negative response. If there is a negative response, or if the form is not returned, the chairman of the judiciary panel can choose not to move forward.

Democrats have opposed several of Trump’s nominees this year, including Alina Habba, a nominee for U.S. attorney in New Jersey, and two prosecutors nominated in New York who have been blocked by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

The blue slip tradition has been in place since at least 1918, according to the Congressional Research Service. But like many Senate traditions, it has evolved over the years to become more partisan. Until 2017, at the beginning of Trump’s first term, blue slips were also honored for nominees to the circuit court, which oversee multiple states. But the Republican-led judiciary panel, also led then by Grassley, did away with that tradition.

In the past, the White House has often worked with home state senators as they decide who to nominate. But Trump and Democrats have shown little interest in working with each other.

Trump is growing frustrated

Trump has focused his ire on Grassley, a longtime ally who is the senior-most Senate Republican. In a July post on social media, Trump called on Grassley to have the “courage” to stop honoring the blue slips.

“Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem,” Trump posted.

Grassley responded by defending the practice, and he said he was “offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults.”

Trump revived his complaints this week, culminating with the threat to sue. On Sunday, he posted that “I have a Consultational Right to appoint Judges and U.S. Attorneys, but that RIGHT has been completely taken away from me in States that have just one Democrat United States Senator.”

It’s all part of a broader nominations fight

Even as Republicans have defied Trump on blue slips, they have agreed with him that the nominations process needs to move faster — especially as Democrats have slowed votes on all of his nominees.

Trump and Republicans pressured Senate Democrats to lift some of their holds on nominees ahead of the traditional August recess, threatening to force them to remain in session all month. But the effort was unsuccessful, and the Senate left town anyway, with Trump posting on social media that Schumer can “GO TO HELL!”

After that standoff, Thune said the chamber will consider in the fall Senate rule changes that would make it harder for Democrats to block or slow votes on nominations.

“I think that the last six months have demonstrated that this process, nominations, is broken,” Thune said. “And so I expect there will be some good robust conversations about that.”

By YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Shares sank Tuesday in Europe and Asia after President Donald Trump announced he was firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

The announcement came after trading closed Monday on Wall Street, where benchmarks reversed some of their big gains from notched last week on hopes for interest rate cuts from the Fed. Trump said in a letter posted Monday on his Truth Social platform that he was removing Cook because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud.

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It’s an unprecedented move that marks a sharp escalation in Trump’s battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics. Apart from rattling financial markets, it is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will probably go to the Supreme Court.

“Trump’s decision to remove a sitting Fed governor has shaken confidence in the institution that underpins the world’s financial system,” Nigel Green of the financial advisory deVere Group, said in a commentary.

“Investors are reacting because the independence of the central bank is critical to market stability, and any sign of political capture raises alarm bells everywhere.”

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX lost 0.5% to 24,148.16, while the CAC 40 in Paris slumped 1.6% to 7,716.55. Britain’s FTSE 100 gave up 0.6% to 9,269.40.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% lower.

In Asian trading, most benchmarks declined.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dove nearly 1.0% to finish at 42,394.40. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.4% to 8,935.60.

South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.0% to 3,179.36 after data showed improved consumer sentiment, strengthening expectations that the central bank won’t lower interest rates.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.2% to 25,524.92, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4% to 3,868.38.

On Monday, the Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.4%. The Dow industrials closed 0.8% lower and the Nasdaq composite shed 0.2%.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him.

Wall Street is still overwhelmingly betting that the Fed will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September. Traders see an 84% chance that the central bank will trim its benchmark rate by a quarter of a percentage point, according to data from CME Group.

In other trading early Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.09 to $63.71 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined $1.02 to $67.20 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar edged down to 147.62 Japanese yen from 147.77 yen. The euro rose to $1.1637 from $1.1620.

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA, Associated Press

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Opposition figures and others in Uganda on Tuesday criticized an agreement with the United States to receive deported migrants, questioning the lack of parliamentary approval and charging that the deal eases political pressure on the country’s authoritarian president.

After facing U.S. sanctions that have targeted many government officials, including the parliamentary speaker, Ugandan President Yoweri “Museveni will be happy” to transact with Washington, said Ibrahim Ssemujju, a lawmaker who is a prominent opposition figure. “He will be asking, ‘When are you bringing them?’”

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Ugandan officials have released few details about the agreement, although said they preferred to receive deportees of African origin and didn’t want individuals with criminal records. However, the country is being put forward as a possible location for high-profile detainee Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvador native who has been charged with human smuggling.

Abrego Garcia, the subject of a protracted immigration saga, was detained on Monday by immigration officials in Baltimore, and the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Abrego Garcia “is being processed for removal to Uganda.”

Without parliamentary oversight, “the whole scheme stinks,” said Mathias Mpuuga, until recently the leader of the opposition in Uganda’s national assembly.

He said the agreement with the U.S. left him “a little perplexed” because Uganda is struggling to look after refugees fleeing violence in neighboring countries. He suggested the agreement makes sense only as a matter of “economic expediency” for the Ugandan government.

It remains unclear precisely what Ugandan authorities are getting in return for accepting deportees.

Uganda’s attorney-general, as well as the government ministers in charge of refugees and internal affairs, were not immediately available for comment. Okello Oryem, the deputy minister in charge of international relations, told the AP that such a deal was “complete rubbish” — the day before his permanent secretary confirmed an agreement was in place to accept individuals who are “reluctant to or may have concerns about returning to their countries of origin.”

Negotiators for the Ugandan side are believed to have been reporting directly to Museveni, an authoritarian leader who has been in power in the east African country since 1986.

For much of his time in power, Museveni was widely seen as a strong U.S. ally, especially for his support of counter-terrorism operations in Somalia when he deployed troops there to fight the al-Qaida-linked rebels of al-Shabab.

But his cachet in Washington declined in recent years. The Biden administration piled pressure over corruption, LGBTQ rights concerns and other rights abuses, with a growing list of Ugandan officials facing sanctions. In addition to Speaker Anita Among, a key ally of Museveni’s, Ugandan officials sanctioned by the U.S. include the current prisons chief, a former police chief, a former deputy army commander, and some former government ministers.

In 2023, reacting to U.S. sanctions against Ugandan officials that followed the enactment of a law against homosexuality, Museveni told a gathering of government officials that he had no wish to visit the U.S.

For Museveni, the deal with the U.S. to accept deportees is desirable “for political and perhaps economic reasons,” said Marlon Agaba, the head of a leading anti-corruption group in Uganda.

The deal eases pressure on Museveni and may come with trade opportunities, said Agaba, executive director of Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda.

“The Trump administration is about deals, about deal-making, and any strongman would welcome that,” he said.

Ssemujju, the opposition lawmaker, said he believed “the matter should be handled by Parliament” and that the agreement is flawed without parliamentary authorization.

In July, the U.S. deported five men with criminal backgrounds to the southern African kingdom of Eswatini and sent eight more to South Sudan. Rwanda has also said it will receive up to 250 migrants deported from the U.S.