ISTANBUL: Iranian and European diplomats are set to meet in Istanbul Friday to embark on the latest drive to unpick the deadlock over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
Representatives from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3 nations, will gather at the Iranian consulate building for the first talks since Iran\u2019s 12-day war with Israel in June, which involved US bombers striking nuclear-related facilities.<\/p>\n
The talks are centered on the possibility of reimposing sanctions on Iran that were lifted in 2015 in exchange for Iran accepting restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program.<\/p>\n
The return of sanctions, known as a \u201csnapback\u201d mechanism, \u201cremains on the table,\u201d according to a European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.<\/p>\n
\u201cA possible delay in triggering snapback has been floated to the Iranians on the condition that there is credible diplomatic engagement by Iran, that they resume full cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and that they address concerns about their highly-enriched uranium stockpile,\u201d the diplomat said.<\/p>\n
European leaders have said sanctions will resume by the end of August if there is no progress on containing Iran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
Tehran, meanwhile, has said the US, which withdrew from the 2015 deal during President Donald Trump \u2018s first term, needs to rebuild faith in its role in negotiations.<\/p>\n
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran\u2019s engagement was dependent on \u201cseveral key principles\u201d that included \u201crebuilding Iran\u2019s trust \u2013 as Iran has absolutely no trust in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a social media post Thursday, he also said the talks shouldn\u2019t be used \u201cas a platform for hidden agendas such as military action.\u201d Gharibabadi insisted that Iran\u2019s right to enrich uranium \u201cin line with its legitimate needs\u201d be respected and sanctions removed.<\/p>\n
Iran has repeatedly threatened to leave the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which commits it to refrain from developing nuclear weapons, if sanctions return.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s talks will be held at the deputy ministerial level, with Iran sending Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-e Ravanchi. A similar meeting was held in Istanbul in May. The identity of the E3 representatives were not immediately clear but the European Union\u2019s deputy foreign policy commissioner is expected to attend.<\/p>\n
The UK, France and Germany were signatories to the 2015 deal, alongside the US, Russia and China. When the US withdrew in 2018, Trump insisted the agreement wasn\u2019t tough enough. Under the original deal, neither Russia nor China can veto reimposed sanctions.<\/p>\n
Since the Israeli and US strikes on Iran, which saw American B-52 bombers hit three nuclear sites, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused the E3 of hypocrisy, saying they failed to uphold their obligations while supporting Israel\u2019s attacks.<\/p>\n
Against the backdrop of the conflict, which saw Iran respond with missile attacks on Israel and a strike on a US base in Qatar, the road ahead remains uncertain<\/p>\n
While European officials have said they want to avoid further conflict and are open to a negotiated solution, they have warned that time is running out.<\/p>\n
Tehran maintains it is open to diplomacy, though it recently suspended cooperation with the IAEA.<\/p>\n
A central concern for Western powers was highlighted when the IAEA reported in May that Iran\u2019s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent \u2013 just below weapons-grade level \u2013 had grown to over 400 kilograms (882 pounds).<\/p>\n
In an interview with Al Jazeera that aired Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is prepared for another war and reiterated that its nuclear program will continue within the framework of international law while adding the country had no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Iran\u2019s Atomic Energy Organization said Thursday the country\u2019s nuclear industry would \u201cgrow back and thrive again\u201d after the recent attacks by Israel and the US<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISTANBUL: Iranian and European diplomats are set to meet in Istanbul Friday to embark on the latest drive to unpick the deadlock over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program. Representatives from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3 nations, will gather at the Iranian consulate building for the first talks since Iran\u2019s 12-day war with Israel in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":84257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84258,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84256\/revisions\/84258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}