San Francisco Frontiers - Iran, Europeans to meet as snapback sanctions loom

The Islamic republic suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in July in the wake of its 12-day war with Israel, citing the UN nuclear watchdog's failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.

The European trio -- parties to the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal -- have threatened to trigger a "snapback mechanism" by the end of August.

The move would reimpose sweeping UN sanctions lifted under the 2015 agreement unless Iran agrees to curb its uranium enrichment and restore cooperation with IAEA inspectors.

"It was agreed that Iran's talks with the three European countries and the European Union would continue next Tuesday at the level of deputy foreign ministers," Iran's foreign ministry said after a phone call between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and senior European diplomats.

France confirmed the talks and cautioned that Iran faced a narrowing window of time.

"We have just made an important call to our Iranian counterpart regarding the nuclear programme and the sanctions against Iran that we are preparing to reimpose," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on X, noting he was joined on the call by his British and German counterparts and the EU's top diplomat.

"Time is running out. A new meeting will take place next week on this issue," he added.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on X that his country remained "committed to diplomacy but time is very short".

"Iran needs to engage substantively in order to avoid the activation of snapback," he said.

"We have been clear that we will not let the snapback of sanctions expire unless there is a verifiable and durable deal."

The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, made a similar statement.

"With the deadline for the snapback mechanism fast approaching, Iran's readiness to engage with the US is crucial. Iran must also fully cooperate" with the IAEA, she said.

It was not immediately clear where the talks, the second since the Iran-Israel war, would take place.

- Iran warns of snapback 'consequences' -

Israel in June launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iranian nuclear, military and civilian facilities, prompting Tehran to respond with missile strikes on Israel.

The United States also joined its ally Israel, targeting key Iranian nuclear sites deep within the country.

Iran and the European trio -- known as the E3 -- held talks in late July at the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, which Tehran described as "frank".

Iran's 12-day war with Israel derailed its nuclear negotiations with the United States and saw it suspend cooperation with the IAEA.

The 2015 nuclear deal was aimed preventing Iran from developing an atomic bomb -- an ambition it has consistently denied.

The deal was torpedoed in 2018 when Donald Trump, during his first term as US president, unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and slapped crippling sanctions on its economy.

Iran has ever since criticized Europe over failing to meet its commitments under the deal.

Araghchi reiterated Friday the "lack of legal and moral competence of these countries to resort to the said mechanism" while warning about "the consequences of such an action".

Iran has previously said it would leave the non-proliferation treaty -- or NPT -- if the mechanism, envisaged in the nuclear deal, is activated by the European parties.

The deadline for activating the mechanism ends in October, though Europeans have set an internal target of the end of August to trigger it if diplomacy fails. They have also offered an extension to buy time for talks.

Araghchi said Friday that "this is a decision that must essentially be taken by the United Nations Security Council; and while the Islamic Republic of Iran has its own principled positions and views in this regard, it is not involved in this process."

The foreign minister said earlier this month that Iran was working with China and Russia to prevent the snapback of sanctions.

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K.Gray--SFF