Iran nuclear talks with European powers to be held in Geneva

TEHRAN: Nuclear talks scheduled for Tuesday between Iran and Britain, France and Germany will be held in Geneva, Iranian state media reported.

“On Tuesday, Iran and the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, along with the European Union, will hold a new round of talks at the level of deputy foreign ministers in Geneva,” state television said on Monday.

The meeting will be the second since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel in mid-June, during which the United States carried out strikes against Tehran’s nuclear facilities. The previous round of talks was held in Istanbul on July 25.

It comes after Iran suspended cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog following the war with Israel, with Tehran pointing to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.

The unprecedented bombing by Israel and the retaliation by Iran during the 12-day war derailed Tehran’s nuclear negotiations with Washington.

The European trio have threatened to trigger a “snapback mechanism” under the 2015 nuclear deal which would reimpose UN sanctions that were lifted under the agreement, unless Iran agrees to curb its uranium enrichment and restore cooperation with IAEA inspectors.

Iran disputes the legality of invoking the clause, accusing the Europeans of not honouring their commitments under the accord.

Britain, France and Germany, along with China, Russia, and the United States, reached an agreement with Iran in 2015 under a deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

The deal provided Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon – something it has always denied wanting to do.

But Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments, particularly on uranium enrichment.

At the time of the US withdrawal, London, Paris and Berlin reaffirmed their commitment to the agreement and said they intended to continue trading with Iran. As a result, UN and European sanctions were not reinstated, even as Trump restored US sanctions.

But the mechanism envisaged by European countries to compensate for the return of US sanctions has struggled to materialise, and many Western companies have been forced to leave Iran, which is facing high inflation and an economic crisis.

The deadline for activating the snapback mechanism ends in October, but according to the Financial Times, the Europeans have offered to extend the deadline if Iran resumes nuclear talks with Washington and re-engages with the IAEA.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the Europeans have no right to do so.