Iranian diplomats are meeting with their counterparts from Germany, the United Kingdom, and France for renewed nuclear talks in Istanbul, amid warnings that the three European powers could trigger “snapback” United Nations sanctions outlined under a previous 2015 deal. This meeting marks the first since Israel’s mid-June attack on Iran, which led to an intensive 12-day conflict with the United States militarily intervening on Israel’s behalf and attacking key Iranian nuclear sites.
The meeting is an opportunity for the E3 group of Germany, UK, and France to correct their positions on Iran’s nuclear issue, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei. Baghaei stated that Iran considers the talk of extending UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to be “meaningless and baseless”. The resolution, which cemented the 2015 deal Iran reached with world powers, is due to expire in October and enshrines the big powers’ prerogative to restore UN sanctions.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, attending the talks alongside senior Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi, warned that triggering sanctions “is completely illegal”. Gharibabadi also accused European powers of “halting their commitments” to the deal after the US withdrew from it in 2018. “We have warned them of the risks, but we are still seeking common ground to manage the situation,” Gharibabadi said.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi expressed optimism that Iran will be ready to restart technical-level discussions on its nuclear programme with the UN nuclear watchdog. Grossi said in Singapore that Iran must be transparent about its facilities and activities and that the IAEA had proposed discussions on “the modalities as to how to restart or begin (inspections) again”. Grossi emphasized that this process will start with technical details and later move on to high-level consultations, without including inspections yet.
Iran has previously warned that Tehran could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty if UN sanctions are reimposed. Restoring sanctions would deepen Iran’s international isolation and place further pressure on its already strained economy. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged European powers to trigger the mechanism.
The US and Iran were divided over uranium enrichment before the conflict, with Iran describing it as a “non-negotiable” right for civilian purposes and the US calling it a “red line”. The IAEA reports that Iran is enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, far above the 3.67 percent cap under the 2015 deal but well below the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade levels. Tehran has said it is open to discussing the rate and level of enrichment but not the right to enrich uranium.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that Iran’s nuclear programme will continue within the framework of international law and emphasized that the country has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons. “Enrichment is currently stopped due to serious and severe damage to nuclear sites caused by US and Israeli attacks,” noted Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Israel has warned it may resume attacks if Iran rebuilds facilities or moves towards weapons capability, while Iran has pledged a “harsh response” to any future attacks.