TEHRAN, July 21: Iran has announced plans to hold renewed talks with European nations over its nuclear programme, with the first meeting taking place in Istanbul on Friday. The talks will be hosted by Turkey and will bring Iranian officials together with officials from Britain, France, and Germany, known as the E3 nations. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, stated that the meeting will focus on lifting sanctions and issues related to Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme.
Under a 2015 deal designed to cap Iran’s nuclear activities, Iran agreed to strict restrictions on its international programme in exchange for an easing of sanctions. However, the deal began to unravel in 2018 when the United States pulled out of it and began to reimpose certain sanctions. European countries have threatened to trigger the 2015 deal’s “snapback” mechanism, which would allow sanctions to be reimposed in case of non-compliance by Tehran.
German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Martin Giese said that the talks are taking place at an expert level and that “Iran must never come into possession of a nuclear weapon.” He also noted that snapback remains an option for the E3 if no solution is reached by the end of August.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Britain, France, and Germany of failing to uphold their commitments in the deal and for providing political and material support to the recent unprovoked and illegal military aggression of the Israeli regime and the US. After US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the 2015 deal, Iran has gradually increased its nuclear activities, including enriching uranium up to 60% or 90%. (AP)
