Just days before a European deadline, Iran said its foreign minister would hold a telephone conference call with his French, German and British counterparts to avoid the reimposition of United Nations sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.
The call, planned for Friday by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, comes as the three European parties to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal threaten to reimpose sanctions under a mechanism known as “snapback.” The European Union’s chief diplomat will also join the call, IRNA reported.
The Europeans’ concern over the Iran nuclear program, which had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels before the 12-day Iran–Israel war in June saw its atomic sites bombed, has only grown since Tehran cut off cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the conflict’s wake. That has left the international community further blinded to Iran’s program- as well as the status of its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity, just a short step from weapons-grade 90%.
Iran has long insisted its program is peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed nation enriching uranium at that level. The US, the IAEA and others assess Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003.
In a letter dated 8 August, the three European nations warned Iran they would proceed with “snapback” if Tehran did not reach a “satisfactory solution” to the nuclear issues. That deadline expires on 31 August, leaving little time for Iran to reach any agreement with the Europeans, who have grown increasingly sceptical after years of inconclusive negotiations.
Restoring the IAEA’s access is a key part of the talks. Iran has blamed the war with Israel partly on the IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, without offering evidence. The agency issues quarterly reports on Iran’s program, and the 2015 deal gave it expanded authority to track nuclear activity.
Iran has also threatened IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi with arrest if he travels to the country, further complicating diplomacy. Grossi, who is considering a run to become the UN secretary-general, has become a target of Tehran’s criticism.
The “snapback” power in the nuclear accord expires in October, raising pressure on the Europeans to use it before losing that ability. Under the mechanism, any party to the deal can find Iran in noncompliance and trigger the return of sanctions. After October, any such effort could be blocked by UN Security Council members China and Russia, both of whom have given Iran limited support in the past but stayed out of the June war.
Source: ABC News
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