Ahead Of New Talks, Iran Blames Europeans For Nuclear Deal Collapse
The 2015 deal, reached between Iran and the UN Security Council's permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany, imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
But it unravelled in 2018 when the United States, during Donald Trump's first term as president, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and reimposed sweeping sanctions.
The Europeans had pledged continued support for the deal, but the mechanism intended to offset US sanctions never materialised effectively and many Western firms were forced to exit Iran, which has since faced a deepening economic crisis.
"The European parties have been at fault and negligent in implementing" the nuclear agreement, said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei.
His remarks come ahead of a meeting Friday in Istanbul between Iranian officials and representatives from Britain, France and Germany to discuss the future of the nuclear deal.
Ahead of those talks, Baqaei said Tehran would host a trilateral meeting on Tuesday about the nuclear issue and the potential reimposition of sanctions with Chinese and Russian representatives.
In recent weeks, the three European powers have threatened to trigger the UN "snapback" mechanism to reimpose international sanctions on Tehran, accusing it of breaching its nuclear commitments.
A German diplomatic source had told AFP on Sunday the E3 were in contact with Tehran and said "Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon".
"That is why Germany, France and the United Kingdom are continuing to work intensively in the E3 format to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear programme," the source said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country currently enriching uranium to 60 percent -- far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 accord.
That is a short step from the 90 percent enrichment required for a nuclear weapon.
Using the snapback clause was "meaningless, unjustifiable and immoral", Baqaei told a news conference, arguing that Iran only began distancing itself from the agreement in response to Western non-compliance.
"Iran's reduction of its commitments was carried out in accordance with the provisions outlined in the agreement," he said.
Western powers -- led by the United States and backed by Israel, Iran's arch-enemy -- have long accused Tehran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons capability.
Iran has repeatedly denied this, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes such as energy production.
Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of nuclear talks since April, but a planned meeting on June 15 was cancelled after Israel launched a military strike on Iran on June 13, triggering a 12-day conflict.
"At this stage, we have no intention of speaking with America," Baqaei said Monday.
Israel launched on June 13 a wave of surprise strikes on its regional nemesis, targeting key military and nuclear facilities.
The United States launched its own set of strikes against Iran's nuclear programme on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
10 hours ago
- DW
Political ploy? Czech Republic outlaws communist propaganda – DW – 08/03/2025
The Czech criminal code now bans the promotion of communist ideology, making it equivalent to Nazi propaganda. At the same time, the Czech communist party is one of the most successful in Europe. What's going on? For staunch opponents of communism in the Czech Republic, it's the happy end to a very long story. After the country's so-called Velvet Revolution, which started in 1989 and led to end of the communist regime there, opponents of the ideology demanded that communists be treated the same as German Nazis had been. More than 30 years later, their demands have finally been met. In late July, Czech President Petr Pavel signed an amendment to his country's criminal code that criminalizes the promotion of communist ideology, placing it on the same footing as Nazi propaganda. The amendment will enter into force on January 1, 2026. The movement to amend the law was first initiated by Martin Mejstrik, formerly a leader of the student protests during the Velvet Revolution and later a Czech senator. Historians from the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, or the USTR, also joined the initiative and this spring, the amendment passed through the Czech political system, supported by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala's pro-European coalition government. President Pavel's signature in July finalized the process. The amendment of section 403 of the Czech criminal code now allots a jail sentence of one to five years for anyone who "establishes, supports or promotes Nazi, communist, or other movements which demonstrably aim to suppress human rights and freedoms or incite racial, ethnic, national, religious or class-based hatred." "The aim of this draft was to eliminate an obviously unfair distinction between two criminal totalitarian ideologies of the 20th century," Kamil Nedvedicky, a deputy director at the USTR, had explained before the amendment was passed. Both of those ideologies suppressed fundamental rights and freedoms, he said. "It is logical and just that Czech criminal law clearly reflects this. It's not about ideology, it's about protecting the democratic constitutional state," he said. Somewhat ironically, the Czech Republic is also one of the few countries in the European Union that has a comparatively successful communist party. The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, or KSCM, was formed in 1990 and until the last Czech parliamentary election four years ago, had members of parliament and even provided several Czech vice presidents. The KSCM was the offspring of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a dictatorial regime with a Marxist-Leninist ideology that ruled the country until 1989. The KSCM has tens of thousands of members and entered the European Parliament after the 2024 EU elections as part of the left-wing Stacilo! (in English, "Enough!") coalition. Polling indicates the Stacilo! electoral alliance will likely get over the 5% hurdle in the Czech Republic's October parliamentary elections too. Its lead candidate is KSCM leader and member of the European Parliament, Katerina Konecna. And that may not be all. The current favorite in domestic elections is Andrej Babis, a former Czech prime minister, oligarch and the leader of the right-wing populist party, ANO (in English, "YES"). Babis has not ruled out working with Stacilo! to form a new coalition. The new amendment to Czech law could potentially even lead to a ban on the KSCM. That happened to the Workers' Party, a Czech far-right, extremist and neo-Nazi party, in 2010. KSCM leader Konecna told DW that the amendment is a political attack on her party by the current government. "It's about the systematic attempt by the antisocial, corrupt government of Petr Fiala to silence its loudest critics," she argued. "That definitely has no place in a democratic society." Konecna also said it was "amusing" that the amendment was signed into law by Pavel, who was previously a prominent member of the original Czech Communist Party. Pavel, a former career soldier, was a member of the Communist Party until 1989. "In retrospect and with the knowledge I have today, it was a decision I am definitely not proud of," the Czech president has previously said. "I think the last 30 years that I have dedicated to building a safer Czech Republic are a symbolic apology to society," he also previously said in an interview with Czech tabloid, Blesk. Pavel served as chief of staff of the Czech military between 2012 and 2015 and as chairman of the NATO military committee for more than three years, from 2015. KSCM leader Konecna argues that the Czech government should be addressing issues ordinary citizens have to deal with, like high energy prices and unaffordable housing. Instead, she claims, they've spent their time passing a law to silence political critics. "But we won't be intimidated," she said combatively. "Even if they threaten us a hundred times and imprison us." Russian politicians have also spoken out about the new Czech rules. "When the state and system of that time are compared to fascist ideology and the fascist regime, it is quite obvious that this is being done to question, accuse, and condemn our country," Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Russian Federation's parliament, the Duma, said on July 25, according to Russia's state news agency Tass.
Int'l Business Times
17 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Filmmakers Try To Cash In On India-Pakistan Battle
Indian filmmakers are locking up the rights to movie titles that can profit from the patriotism fanned by a four-day conflict with Pakistan, which killed more than 70 people. The nuclear-armed rivals exchanged artillery, drone and air strikes in May, after India blamed Pakistan for an armed attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. The fighting came to an end when US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire. Now, some Bollywood filmmakers see an opportunity to cash in on the battle. India tagged its military action against Pakistan "Operation Sindoor", the Hindi word for vermilion, which married Hindu women wear on their foreheads. The name was seen as a symbol of Delhi's determination to avenge those widowed in the April 22 attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam, which sparked the hostilities. Film studios have registered a slew of titles evoking the operation, including: "Mission Sindoor", "Sindoor: The Revenge", "The Pahalgam Terror", and "Sindoor Operation". "It's a story which needs to be told," said director Vivek Agnihotri. "If it was Hollywood, they would have made 10 films on this subject. People want to know what happened behind the scenes," he told AFP. Agnihotri struck box office success with his 2022 release, "The Kashmir Files", based on the mass flight of Hindus from Kashmir in the 1990s. The ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party gave that film a glowing endorsement, despite accusations that it aimed to stir up hatred against India's minority Muslims. Since Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, some critics say Bollywood is increasingly promoting his government's ideology. Raja Sen, a film critic and screenwriter, said filmmakers felt emboldened by an amenable government. "We tried to wage a war and then we quietened down when Mr Trump asked us to. So what is the valour here?" Sen told AFP of the Pakistan clashes. Anil Sharma, known for directing rabble-rousing movies, criticised the apparent rush to make films related to the Pahalgam attack. "This is herd mentality... these are seasonal filmmakers, they have their constraints," he said. "I don't wait for an incident to happen and then make a film based on that. A subject should evoke feelings and only then cinema happens," said Sharma. Sharma's historical action flick "Gadar: Ek Prem Katha" (2001) and its sequel "Gadar 2" (2023), both featuring Sunny Deol in lead roles, were big hits. In Bollywood, filmmakers often seek to time releases for national holidays like Independence Day, which are associated with heightened patriotic fervour. "Fighter", featuring big stars Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, was released on the eve of India's Republic Day on January 25 last year. Though not a factual retelling, it drew heavily from India's 2019 airstrike on Pakistan's Balakot. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews but raked in $28 million in India, making it the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of that year. This year, "Chhaava", a drama based on the life of Sambhaji Maharaj, a ruler of the Maratha Empire, became the highest-grossing film so far this year. It also generated significant criticism for fuelling anti-Muslim bias. "This is at a time when cinema is aggressively painting Muslim kings and leaders in violent light," said Sen. "This is where those who are telling the stories need to be responsible about which stories they choose to tell." Sen said filmmakers were reluctant to choose topics that are "against the establishment". "If the public is flooded with dozens of films that are all trying to serve an agenda, without the other side allowed to make itself heard, then that propaganda and misinformation enters the public psyche," he said. Acclaimed director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra said true patriotism is promoting peace and harmony through the medium of cinema. Mehra's socio-political drama "Rang De Basanti" (2006) won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film and was chosen as India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. "How we can arrive at peace and build a better society? How we can learn to love our neighbours?" he asked. "For me that is patriotism." India tagged its military action against Pakistan "Operation Sindoor", the Hindi word for vermilion, which married Hindu women wear on their foreheads AFP The nuclear-armed rivals exchanged artillery, drone and air strikes in May, after India blamed Pakistan for an armed attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir AFP
DW
a day ago
- DW
Ukraine: Kyiv says it hit Russian oil, military facilities – DW – 08/02/2025
Ukraine says it has struck some key oil and military facilities on Russian territory. A blaze that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant after Ukrainian shelling has been brought under control. DW has the latest. Ukraine's military says it has hit key infrastructure inside Russia, including a significant oil refinery. Kyiv also says it struck a military airfield used for drones and an electronics factory. A fire that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after Ukrainian shelling has been brought under control, according to Russian authorities. Meanwhile, the has reported that Indian government sources have revealed there are no plans to stop buying oil from Russia. This is despite US President Donald Trump's threats to impose penalties on will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite US President Donald Trump's threats of penalties. This is according to two Indian government sources and reported on by the Reuters news agency, via the. "These are long-term oil contracts," Reuters reported one of the sources as saying. "It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight." Trump last month suggested on social media that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A fire that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after Ukrainian shelling has subsided after being brought under control, the Moscow-installed administration of the Russian-held plant in Ukraine said on Saturday. Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia plant in the first weeks of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which got underway in February 2022. Since Moscow took the plant, both sides have accused each other of firing or taking other measures that could increases the danger of a nuclear accident. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Ukraine said it had struck infrastructure within Russia, including a major oil refinery as well as a military airfield for drones and an electronics factory. Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) said the military had hit the refinery in Ryazan, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of Moscow. The attack sparked a fire on its premises. The USF said it also hit the Annanefteprodukt oil storage facility in the Voronezh region. Elsewhere, the Ukrainian SBU intelligence agency said its drones had hit Russia's Primorsko-Akhtarsk military airfield. The airbase has been used to launch waves of long-range drones at targets in Ukraine. The SBU said it also struck a plant in Penza. According to the intelligence agency, the factory supplies Moscow's military-industrial complex with electronics. Ukraine's military said Saturday that it had hit key infrastructure inside Russia, including a significant oil refinery, as well as a military airfield used for drones, and an electronics factory. Mwanwhile, a fire broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after Ukrainian shelling, before being brought under control. According to the , Indian government sources have revealed there are no plans to stop buying oil from Russia. This is despite US President Donald Trump's threats to impose penalties on New Delhi.
