European and Iranian diplomats meet in Istanbul
Istanbul: Talks between Iranian and European diplomats in Istanbul ended Friday with the sides agreeing to meet again to seek to unpick the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Representatives from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3 nations, gathered at the Iranian Consulate building for the first talks since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel in June, which involved US bombers striking nuclear-related facilities.
The talks, which ended after four hours, centred on the possibility of reimposing sanctions on Iran that were lifted in 2015 in exchange for Iran accepting restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear programme.
Iranian negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, said the “serious, frank and detailed” meeting focused on the nuclear issue and the status of sanctions while agreeing to further discussions. The E3 nations had earlier warned that sanctions could return under a process known as the “snapback” mechanism, which allows one of the Western parties to reimpose UN sanctions if Tehran doesn’t comply with its requirements.
“Both sides came to the meeting with specific ideas,” Gharibabadi said in a social media post. “It was agreed that consultations on this matter will continue.”
As the talks were ongoing, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said that he hoped that the meeting would see the E3 nations reassess their “previous unconstructive attitude”. European leaders have said sanctions will resume by the end of August, if there is no progress on containing Iran’s nuclear programme.
The snapback mechanism “remains on the table,” a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks,
“A possible delay in triggering snapback has been floated to the Iranians on the condition that there is credible diplomatic engagement by Iran, that they resume full cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and that they address concerns about their highly-enriched uranium stockpile,” the diplomat said.
