European powers plan fresh nuclear talks with Iran this week: diplomatic source

BERLIN: Germany, France and Britain are planning to hold fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the coming days, a German diplomatic source told AFP on Sunday.

“The E3 are in contact with Iran to schedule further talks for the coming week,” the source said, following warnings from the European powers that international sanctions against Iran could be reactivated if Tehran does not resume negotiations.

Reuters: Citing Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency Reuters reported that “The principle of talks has been agreed upon, but consultations are continuing on the time and place of the talks. The country in which the talks could be held next week has not been finalised,” Tasnim reported, quoting a source informed on the matter.

The report on possible talks comes a few days after the foreign ministers of the E3 nations, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief, held their first call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago.

The three European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal reached with Iran – from which the United States withdrew in 2018 – that lifted sanctions on the Middle Eastern country in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme.

The E3 have said they would restore U.N. sanctions on Tehran via the so-called “snapback mechanism” by the end of August if nuclear talks that were ongoing between Iran and the U.S. before the Israel-Iran air war do not resume or fail to produce concrete results.

“If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly, and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the ‘snap-back’ for which they lack absolutely [any] moral and legal ground,” Araqchi said earlier this week.

The snapback mechanism can be used to restore U.N. sanctions before the U.N. Security Council resolution enshrining the deal expires on October 18.

Prior to the Israel-Iran war, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment in Iran, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimise any risk of weaponisation.

Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is solely meant for civilian purposes.