Iran, European powers hold nuclear talks in Turkey

AFP | Istanbul

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Iran met with European powers yesterday to discuss its nuclear negotiations with Washington, while US President Donald Trump issued a new threat unless the Iranians “move quickly” towards a deal.

The meeting in Istanbul followed remarks by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warning of “irreversible” consequences if Britain, France and Germany move to reimpose United Nations sanctions that were lifted under a landmark 2015 agreement.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who attended the talks in the Turkish city, said in a post on X: “We exchanged views and discussed the latest status of the indirect nuclear negotiations and the lifting of sanctions.”

Gharibabadi said that if necessary, Tehran would meet again with the so-called E3 -- the European parties to the 2015 deal along with China, Russia and the United States -- to continue discussions, after several meetings since last year. Trump had effectively torpedoed the deal during his first term, by unilaterally abandoning it in 2018 and reimposing sanctions on Iran’s banking sector and oil exports.

A year later, Iran responded by rolling back its own commitments under the deal, which provided relief from sanctions in return for UN-monitored restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities. Speaking yesterday in Abu Dhabi, Trump said that his administration had handed Iran a proposal for a new agreement, after four rounds of negotiations in recent weeks.

“They know they have to move quickly or something bad is going to happen,” Trump said.

The Oman-mediated Iran-US talks were the highest-level contact between the two foes since Washington abandoned the nuclear accord.

Araghchi had earlier denied a report about a draft agreement, saying “we have not been given anything”.

The three European powers have been weighing whether to trigger the 2015 deal’s “snapback” mechanism, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October.