By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/pompeo-demands-snapback-sanctions-on-iran-for-violating-nuclear-deal-u-s-abandoned Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio The United States formally demanded Thursday that the United Nations “snap back” all sanctions on Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration withdrew in 2018. But several European signatories of the agreement disputed U.S. legal authority for the move and said they won’t enforce the sanctions. Nick Schifrin reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Stephanie Sy: The president's lawyers immediately appealed the ruling, likely sending the case back to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court already rejected Mr. Trump's initial claim of total immunity.The United States formally demanded today that the United Nations snap back all sanctions on Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the U.S. already abandoned.Foreign affairs correspondent Nick Schifrin is back to fill us in. Nick Schifrin: Two years ago, the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. But, today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued the U.S. still had the legal authority to use a Security Council resolution that endorsed the deal to punish Iran. Secretary Mike Pompeo: Iran will be back under sanctions for ongoing nuclear activity, such as the enrichment of nuclear material that could be applied to a nuclear weapons program. Nick Schifrin: Since the U.S. withdrew and reimposed unilateral sanctions, Iran has enriched uranium and stockpiled enriched uranium at higher levels than the deal allows, although still below levels required to make a nuclear bomb.But the other signatories of the deal, the U.K., France, Germany, China, and Russia, say, because the U.S. withdrew, it does not have the legal authority to take today's step. Those countries cannot stop the U.S. from snapping back these sanctions, but some say they won't help enforce them.And then there are political consequences. European officials say that today further strained relations with the U.S. And even former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who led the effort to pull out of the nuclear deal, argues today's step could degrade the power of the Security Council veto.Today, Iran displayed ballistic missiles and a new cruise missile, all weapons not covered by the nuclear deal, and called today's U.N. move illegal. Administration officials insist they do have the legal authority and that they can overcome any political consequence.And they also that believe Iran is likely to respond to today's move, and that could reduce the chances that a President Biden could resurrect the nuclear deal next year — Stephanie. Stephanie Sy: Nick Schifrin, thank you very much. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Aug 20, 2020 By — Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin Nick Schifrin is PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent. He leads NewsHour’s daily foreign coverage, including multiple trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, and has created weeklong series for the NewsHour from nearly a dozen countries. The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2017 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In 2020 Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the NewsHour teams awarded a 2021 Peabody for coverage of COVID-19, and a 2023 duPont Columbia Award for coverage of Afghanistan and Ukraine. Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza; reported on the Syrian war from Syria's Turkish, Lebanese and Jordanian borders; and covered the annexation of Crimea. He won an Overseas Press Club award for his Gaza coverage and a National Headliners Award for his Ukraine coverage. From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. His reporting helped ABC News win an Edward R. Murrow award for its bin Laden coverage. Schifrin is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Overseas Press Club Foundation. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). @nickschifrin