Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman announced on Monday (July 21) that Iran will hold nuclear talks with the UK, France, and Germany in Istanbul on Friday (July 25). The talks will be attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Esmaeil Baghaei.
Last Thursday (July 17), diplomatic officials from the UK, France, Germany, and the EU held a discussion with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, leading to the arrangement of the upcoming nuclear talks on Friday. This telephone conversation marks the first dialogue between Iran and these countries since the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities by Israel and the US.
Iran’s state-run media quoted Baghaei as saying that the talks on Friday will be at the “deputy foreign minister level.”
The UK, France, and Germany recently indicated that if Iran’s nuclear negotiations do not resume or produce tangible results before the end of the summer, they will reinstate all sanctions imposed by the UN on Iran before 2015 through the “Snapback” mechanism by the end of August.
A French diplomat stated after the call that the foreign ministers of the three countries urged Iran to swiftly return to the negotiation table to achieve a nuclear agreement that can be internationally monitored and implemented stably. The official did not specify what “specific progress” the three countries are expecting.
The “Snapback” mechanism is a provision in the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement that allows signatories to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran if it violates the agreement. This provision is set to expire in October this year.
In 2015, Iran reached a nuclear agreement with the US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia, agreeing to limit its nuclear program and accept supervision in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. However, the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and reinstated sanctions on Iran, while other countries remain members of the agreement.