Iran to Hold Talks with UK, France, and Germany Next Week on Nuclear Program

Iran May Hold Nuclear Talks with UK, France, and Germany Next Week Amid Threats of Sanctions Reimposition

Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday that Iran may hold talks with the UK, France, and Germany next week regarding Iran's nuclear program. Previously, these three European countries warned that if negotiations were not resumed, they would activate the "fast-track reimposition of sanctions" mechanism. This mechanism allows the parties to the Iran nuclear deal to quickly reinstate previous UN sanctions against Iran if they believe Iran has violated the agreement.

Tasnim News Agency quoted an informed source as saying: "The principles for the talks have been agreed upon, but discussions on the time and location of the meetings are still ongoing. It has not yet been finally determined which country will host the talks next week."

Several days ago, the foreign ministers of the E3 (UK, France, and Germany) and the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy had their first call with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif since the US and Israel attacked Iran's nuclear facilities a month ago.

The UK, France, and Germany, along with China and Russia, are the remaining signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with Tehran. The US withdrew from the agreement in 2018. The deal lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear program.

The UK, France, and Germany stated that if negotiations are not resumed, they will restore UN sanctions on Iran through the "fast-track reimposition of sanctions" mechanism by the end of August.

Zarif said earlier this week: "If the EU/European countries want to play a role, they should take responsible actions, abandon those outdated threats and pressure policies, including the 'fast-track' mechanism, because they are completely lacking moral and legal basis."

The "fast-track reimposition of sanctions" mechanism can be used to reinstate UN sanctions before the UN Security Council resolution on the Iran nuclear deal expires on October 18.

Before the "twelve-day war" between Israel and Iran, the US and Iran held five rounds of nuclear talks under Oman's mediation, but faced major obstacles such as Iran's uranium enrichment. Western countries hope to reduce Iran's uranium enrichment to zero to minimize the risk of its weaponization, while Iran refuses the "zero enrichment" demand, emphasizing that moderate uranium enrichment is part of its right to peacefully use nuclear energy.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838242707474761/

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