Western nations set deadline for Iran nuclear deal

The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France set the end of August as the deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, Axios reported, citing three sources.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the UK, Germany and France agreed the de facto deadline in a phone call on Monday.

If no deal is reached by that deadline, the three European powers plan to trigger the "snapback" mechanism that automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran deal.

Earlier, it was reported the EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Tehran from 29 August if Iran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme.

"France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest," French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said.