Iran Rules Out US Talks Ahead of Nuclear Meeting With Europe
'At the moment, we have no plans to hold talks with the US,' Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a televised press conference on Monday. Earlier, Iranian state TV said Iranian diplomats planned to meet counterparts from the UK, France and Germany for nuclear talks in Istanbul on Friday.
Baghaei said Iran's deputy foreign ministers will 'seriously raise' Tehran's demands during those discussions. He didn't detail the demands but said Tehran will take the countries to task for their stance during last month's US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
Baghaei also warned any attempt by the three European countries — also known as the E3 — to reinstate United Nations sanctions through the so-called snapback mechanism would compromise their right to any role in the nuclear negotiations and their ability to invoke any of its provisions or processes.
The 'snapback' is a rule within the 2015 nuclear deal that allows participating countries to trigger a UN Security-Council process that could automatically reimpose broad sanctions on the Islamic Republic if it's deemed to be violating the agreement.
On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the E3 'lacks any legal, political, and moral standing' to activate the mechanism because of its failure to comply with the nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump abandoned it during his first term and because of the bloc's 'political and material support' for Israeli and US attacks on his country.
On Tuesday Tehran plans to host Russian and Chinese officials for talks focused on the nuclear issue and the prospect of additional sanctions, Baghaei said. The meeting comes after Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, visited Russia on Sunday and discussed Iran's nuclear program and regional developments with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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