Iran will hold nuclear talks with Britain, France and Germany on Friday in Rome, Reuters reported, ahead of a fourth round of talks with the US this weekend.
The move is believed to indicate that Tehran is looking to other options in case talks with Washington run aground.
It is also reported to be an opportunity to test the waters in terms of how willing the European trio, known as the E3, are to reimpose harsh sanctions as part of the so-called “snapback” mechanism.
The three countries are all parties to the 2015 nuclear deal known as the JCPOA, under which Iran agreed to kerb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. The US abandoned that deal in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Since then, Iran has far exceeded the JCPOA’s limitations on its nuclear enrichment activity, and is now reportedly likely to be able to build a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks. Its diplomats have been in tense negotiations with the US, with Trump threatening to attack Iran unless it agrees to a new deal.
Snapback is a mechanism of the JCPOA designed to avoid this, with signatories agreeing to reimpose heavy economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic if proliferation limits are breached.
Israel, which weathered an Iranian ballistic missile attack in October last year, has also called for strict enforcement on Iran’s uranium enrichment. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated calls for “all of the infrastructure” related to Iran’s nuclear programme to be removed, and for stronger limits on Iran’s ability to develop ballistic missiles.
As tensions with the US mount, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the European powers had lost influence over the nuclear file, and called on them to take a more active role in diplomacy.
“In my opinion, the three European countries have lost their role due to the wrong policies they have adopted. Of course, we do not want this and are ready to hold talks with them in Rome,” Araghchi said, according to Reuters.
Representatives from Britain, France and Germany confirmed to the news agency that they would meet with Iran on Friday.
While the US reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018, many European sanctions are still suspended under the JCPOA. They could however be reimposed in October, when the UN resolution ratifying that accord is set to expire.
France’s foreign minister said on Monday that his country wouldn’t hesitate to reimpose sanctions if no new deal is agreed by then.
“These sanctions would permanently close off Iranian access to technology, investment, and the European market, with devastating effects on the country's economy,” Jean-Noel Barrot said.
