New York, Aug. 27 -- Iran faces a renewal of UN-mandated sanctions within weeks unless it returns tonegotiations on the future of its nuclear programme and allows international inspections of its facilities.

The process for restoring sanctions that were lifted a decade ago under a landmark nuclear deal could begin atthe end of the month if a meeting on Tuesday between Iran and three European nations fails to make progress,reports CNN.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom have told the United Nations they will move to reimpose sanctionsthrough what's known as the 'snapback' mechanism if Iran continues to violate its obligations under the deal.

The snapback was built into the 2015 nuclear pact reached by Iran, the US and the Europeans. U...