Axios:

Barak Ravid

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, the U.K. and the EU foreign policy chief told Secretary of State Marco Rubio they will trigger the "snapback" sanctions mechanism against Iran on Thursday, three sources with direct knowledge told Axios.

Why it matters: The "snapback" mechanism automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The move is expected to increase the economic pressure on Iran and likely lead to an Iranian retaliation.

Iranian officials have threatened in the past that triggering the "snapback" mechanism would lead itr to withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

The State Department declined to comment on the matter.

Driving the news: France, Germany and the U.K. gave Iran until the end of August to take steps regarding their nuclear program to avoid from the triggering of the UN sanctions.

The European powers wanted Iran to resume negotiations with the U.S. over a nuclear deal, allow full access to UN inspectors and give access to its 60% highly enriched uranium stockpile.

A meeting in Geneva on Tuesday between senior diplomats from Iran and the European powers ended with no results with the Iranians not proposing anything.

A source with knowledge of the Geneva meeting said the Iranians "haven't put tangible detailed deliverables on the table", closed the door on the possibility of extending the deadline for the "snapback" and paving the way for reimposing the sanctions.

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