Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that nuclear talks in Istanbul on Friday with Germany, Britain and France were “serious, frank and detailed,” Reuters reported.
The meetings involved discussions on sanctions relief and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, in which both sides presented specific ideas.
European powers have recently threatened to trigger sanctions if Tehran rejects a deal on uranium enrichment and cooperation with U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.
Gharibabadi said that Tehran reiterated its principled positions, including on the snapback sanctions mechanism, Reuters added.
The European diplomats were seen leaving the Iranian consulate shortly before 2 p.m. after spending several hours inside.
The face-to-face negotiations were the first since Israel launched a massive preemptive strike on Iran on June 13, targeting key nuclear and military sites.
The 12-day war that ensued led the Islamic Republic to withdraw from any semblance of cooperating with the U.N. watchdog.
The war has moreover derailed the rounds of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran that began in April.
On the backdrop of a U.N. report from June 12 that Tehran is violating its non-proliferation commitments, the three European powers known as the E3—Germany, Britain and France—threatened to trigger a so-called “snapback mechanism” by the end of August, reinstating U.N. sanctions on Iran.
Before the current talks, a European source told AFP that the three countries were preparing to trigger the mechanism “in the absence of a negotiated solution.”
The unnamed source went on to urge the Iranians to make “clear gestures” on uranium enrichment.
Gharibabadi said earlier in the week that triggering sanctions would be “completely illegal,” putting more pressure on Iran’s already weakened economy.
“We have warned them of the risks, but we are still seeking common ground to manage the situation,” Gharibabadi was quoted by AFP as saying.
On July 2, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar urged the international community to “utilize all means at its disposal” to confront the Iranian regime’s nuclear ambitions.
“Iran has just issued a scandalous announcement about suspending its cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency),” Sa’ar wrote on X, referencing reports in the Islamic Republic’s state media that President Masoud Pezeshkian had ordered the implementation of June 25 legislation to halt inspections of Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“The time to activate the Snapback mechanism is now! I call upon the E3 countries—Germany, France and the U.K.—to reinstate all sanctions against Iran!” Jerusalem’s top diplomat wrote in the X statement.
