Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have reportedly agreed to an end-of-August deadline for concluding a new nuclear agreement with Iran — a move designed to prevent Tehran from dragging its feet and to reassert Western resolve after years of diplomatic appeasement.

According to Axios, three sources familiar with the high-level discussions confirmed that the U.S. and its European allies are prepared to trigger the “snapback” mechanism — a provision in the 2015 Iran deal that allows for the automatic reimposition of all United Nations Security Council sanctions — if Iran fails to comply by the deadline.

Reactivating snapback sanctions takes 30 days. That timeline appears to be deliberate, as European officials reportedly want to act before Russia assumes the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in October, which could complicate enforcement.

“The call between Rubio and his European counterparts was aimed at coordinating positions on ‘snapback’ and the path forward on nuclear diplomacy with Iran, the sources said,” Axios reported.

Two of the sources told the outlet that France, Germany, and the U.K. intend to deliver a clear message to Tehran: it can still avoid the return of sweeping UN sanctions — if it takes immediate steps to provide concrete assurances about the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

Iran, however, has threatened to retaliate by pulling out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty altogether — a move that would mark a dangerous escalation.

Despite efforts to restart diplomacy after hostilities between Israel and Iran subsided, President Donald Trump’s administration has signaled firm boundaries. European leaders, along with Israel, had reportedly worried the White House might push for delaying the snapback in pursuit of a longer-term deal. But those fears were allayed during recent meetings in Washington.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his White House visit last week to directly urge President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff not to obstruct the snapback process.

“We felt that Trump and his team agreed with us,” one senior Israeli official told Axios.

President Trump has left little room for doubt about his stance.

Speaking at a NATO summit in The Hague, he told reporters that Israeli agents had confirmed that Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility was “totally obliterated” following recent U.S. airstrikes.

“They have guys who go in after the strike, and they said it was total obliteration,” Trump said, according to FirstPost.

He warned Iran that any effort to resume uranium enrichment would be met with further action.

In stark terms, the President compared the U.S. strikes on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz facilities to the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, calling them similarly decisive in ending aggression.

Meanwhile, reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran’s 400kg stockpile of 60% enriched uranium had gone missing were swiftly dismissed by Trump and top intelligence officials.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that the regime’s nuclear infrastructure had sustained devastating damage and would require “years” to rebuild.

“Several key nuclear facilities were destroyed,” Ratcliffe said, citing reliable intelligence sources.

While a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency report suggested Iran’s program was only set back “by months,” that same report noted the intelligence was of “low confidence” — a detail conveniently ignored by corporate media outlets like CNN and The New York Times.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the Pentagon and FBI are now investigating the leak, and criminal charges are expected.

President Trump’s message is clear: the days of strategic patience with Iran are over. Tehran is on the clock — and this time, the countdown ends with consequences.