Iranian senior official said that the proposal put forward by UK, France and Germany's foreign ministers is "unrealistic", and Iran's foreign minister is expected to visit Putin on Monday.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Saturday that the proposal put forward by major European countries regarding Iran's nuclear program during the Geneva talks was "unrealistic," implying that it would be difficult to reach an agreement if the European side insisted on these proposals. On Friday, the foreign ministers of the UK, France, and Germany as well as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy held talks with Iran's foreign minister to prevent the escalation of conflicts between Israel and Iran.

The senior Iranian official told Reuters: "The discussions and proposals made by Europeans in Geneva are unrealistic. Insisting on this position will not bring Iran and Europe closer to reaching an agreement." The official added, "Regardless, Iran will review the European side's proposal in Tehran and respond at the next meeting." Both parties expressed their willingness to continue talks on Friday but did not determine a new date.

European diplomats said that Friday's talks aimed to test whether Tehran authorities were willing to negotiate a new nuclear agreement, despite the lack of an obvious prospect of Israel stopping its attacks in the short term. Although neither side revealed the details of the proposed suggestions, two European diplomats said that the three countries of the UK, France, and Germany did not believe that Israel would accept a ceasefire in the short term, and it would also be difficult for Iran and the US to resume negotiations.

These European diplomats said that their idea was to start a parallel negotiation track, initially excluding the US. The new agreement would involve stricter inspections, including possible inspections of Iran's ballistic missile program, while allowing the Tehran authorities to retain some theoretical uranium enrichment capabilities.

Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron called Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Macron introduced: "I am deeply concerned about Iran's nuclear program. Here, my position remains clear: Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and Iran should fully guarantee its intentions are peaceful. I firmly believe that the path to ending war and avoiding greater danger exists. For this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran."

Although some European foreign ministers hinted on Friday that Tehran authorities were more willing to talk about issues beyond the nuclear program, the senior official denied the possibility of negotiating Iran's defense capabilities, including the missile program, and reiterated that the idea of zero uranium enrichment was a dead end. The senior official of the Tehran authorities said: "Iran welcomes diplomacy but does not welcome diplomacy under the shadow of war."

According to two European diplomats who are directly informed about the discussions, Iran's Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian told his European counterparts on Friday that Iran would not negotiate directly with the United States as long as Israel continued its military operations. Axios, a short news website, reported that Amirabdollahian told the European foreign ministers present that the Tehran authorities were willing to limit uranium enrichment activities in a way similar to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from in 2018. However, Amirabdollahian clearly stated that he would not agree to the requirement of zero uranium enrichment activities proposed by the US.

After the meeting, Amirabdollahian told Iranian media that the Tehran authorities remained committed to diplomacy and were prepared to meet again with European foreign ministers. He emphasized that Iran would not negotiate over its defensive capabilities. Amirabdollahian traveled to Istanbul on Saturday to attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting. According to these diplomats, he is expected to visit Moscow on Monday to meet with Russian President Putin and discuss the war issue.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1835591149230080/

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