As the clock ticked down to midnight on September 27, 2025, Iranians braced themselves for the reimposition of sweeping United Nations sanctions—an economic and diplomatic blow that many fear will deepen the nation’s ongoing crisis. The so-called “snapback” of sanctions, triggered by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, comes after a turbulent summer marked by war, soaring inflation, and mounting political repression. For millions across Iran, the prospect of renewed international isolation is not an abstract threat. It’s a daily struggle for survival, with food prices spiraling and the national currency, the rial, plummeting to record lows.
According to The Associated Press, the sanctions—set to take effect at 00:00 GMT on September 28—will freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals, and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program. The move follows the breakdown of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and Iran’s withdrawal from key International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring protocols after a 12-day war in June. The Security Council had just voted down a last-ditch resolution by China and Russia to extend sanctions relief, leaving the snapback mechanism in force and sealing Iran’s fate for the foreseeable future (UN News).
In Tehran and beyond, the effects are already being felt. Iran’s rial traded at more than 1.1 million to the US dollar in the open market—a new all-time low—on the eve of the sanctions. The cost of staples like meat, rice, and beans has soared, with the government reporting annual inflation at 34.5% in June and the price of essential foods up over 50%. Pinto beans have tripled in price in a year, rice has climbed more than 80%, and even basic items like butter and chicken are increasingly out of reach for ordinary families. “Every day I see new higher prices for cheese, milk and butter,” Sima Taghavi, a mother of two, told The Associated Press. “I cannot omit them like fruits and meat from my grocery list because my kids are too young to be deprived.”
The psychological toll is just as severe. Dr. Sima Ferdowsi, a clinical psychologist and professor at Shahid Beheshti University, described a society “exhausted and unmotivated” by the twin pressures of war and economic collapse. “If the economic situation continues like this, it will have serious social and moral consequences,” she warned in an interview with Hamshahri newspaper, noting that people may be driven to desperate acts simply to survive.
The international context is as fraught as the domestic one. The snapback mechanism, designed to be veto-proof at the UN Security Council, was activated after the E3 powers accused Iran of failing to come clean on its nuclear program and further restricting IAEA oversight in response to the June conflict with Israel and the United States. Iran maintains a stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% purity—dangerously close to weapons-grade levels of 90%—and while Tehran insists its nuclear ambitions are peaceful, Western powers and the IAEA remain unconvinced. “Given the knowledge Iran has, given the materials that remain in Iran, that’s a very dangerous assumption,” Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association told The Associated Press.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, for his part, struck a defiant tone. “If the goal had been to resolve concerns on the nuclear programme, we could easily do that,” he told reporters, reiterating that Iran would never pursue nuclear weapons. Pezeshkian accused the United States of pressuring Europeans not to reach a compromise and dismissed the notion that sanctions would force Iran to its knees. “There was no reason to reach a deal when, in his view, Israel and the US were seeking to use the pressure to topple the theocratic establishment,” Tasnim News Agency reported.
On the diplomatic front, Iran recalled its ambassadors to the United Kingdom, France, and Germany for consultations—a move that underscored the rupture with Europe. The state-run IRNA news agency framed the recall as a response to the “irresponsible action” of the three countries in reinstating repealed UN Security Council resolutions. Meanwhile, Russia’s deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyansky declared the reimposition of sanctions “null and void,” signaling Moscow’s continued support for Tehran despite international condemnation.
Yet, the reality on the ground is that the sanctions will reintroduce a global ban on cooperation with Iran across nuclear, military, banking, and shipping sectors. While the US and the E3 already maintain unilateral sanctions, the snapback is intended to tighten the economic noose and pressure Iran back to the negotiating table. US envoy Steve Witkoff described the move as “the right medicine for what’s happening,” though he insisted Washington was open to further talks (Al Jazeera).
Not everyone is convinced the strategy will succeed. “In the short term, kicking out the IAEA increases the risk of miscalculation. The US or Israel could use the lack of inspections as a pretext for further strikes,” Davenport warned. Tensions remain high after the June war, which saw missile sites bombed and more than 1,000 people reportedly killed, according to Iranian authorities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a recent UN address, urged no delay in the snapback and hinted that Israel might strike again if necessary.
Inside Iran, the government’s response to dissent has been swift and brutal. More than 1,000 people have been executed in 2025 alone, a rate unseen since the bloody aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988. The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran warn that “political and civic space in Iran has shrunk to nothing,” with activists and dissidents facing repression both at home and abroad. The judiciary announced on September 27 that four Iranians were sentenced for espionage for Israel’s Mossad and the MEK group, with two receiving the death penalty and two life sentences.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), meanwhile, marked the anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and others in Israeli air raids, vowing that “active and smart resistance” remains the only solution for the region against Israeli “expansionism.” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, echoed this sentiment in Beirut, warning that Israel “shows mercy to no country.”
Amid the uncertainty, ordinary Iranians like Sina, a father of a 12-year-old, voice a sense of resignation and loss. “For as long as I can remember, we’ve been struggling with economic hardship, and every year it’s worse than the last,” he told The Associated Press. “For my generation, it’s always either too late or too early—our dreams are slipping away.”
With sanctions now snapping back into place and no clear diplomatic breakthrough in sight, the Iranian people face a future clouded by hardship, anxiety, and the ever-present risk of renewed conflict. The world watches closely, but for many in Iran, the struggle has never felt more personal or more urgent.
