Iran and European countries agree to resume new nuclear talks

Iran has agreed with the European signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement – Britain, France, and Germany – to resume nuclear talks at the deputy foreign minister level.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed diplomatic source, reported that Iran and the three European countries had agreed in principle to resume talks, but that consultations regarding the date and location of the talks were still ongoing.

Iran signed the nuclear agreement in 2015 with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia) and Germany.

The source said that the three European countries are in contact with Iran to set a date for further talks next week, following warnings from European powers that international sanctions on Iran could be re-imposed unless negotiations resume.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed source, reported that Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the three European countries.

Tasnim news agency added that consultations are underway regarding the date and location of the talks.

This comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone call on Friday with his British, French, and German counterparts, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

During the call, the Europeans warned that if Iran didn’t return to talks soon, they would activate the snapback mechanism to reimpose sanctions lifted under the 2015 agreement to limit Tehran’s nuclear production.

Iran and the United States held several rounds of nuclear negotiations mediated by the Sultanate of Oman before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran on June 13.

But US President Donald Trump’s decision to join Israel in striking three Iranian nuclear facilities ended the talks.

“Iran must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon… That’s why Germany, France, and the United Kingdom continue to work intensively within the E3 to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program,” the German source said.

The German source added, “If a solution isn’t reached during the summer, re-imposing sanctions remains an option for the EU3”.

The 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and major powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), imposed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

But the agreement began to collapse in 2018, during Trump’s first term, when the United States withdrew from it and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.