Iran confirms fresh nuclear talks with European powers
Iranian diplomats will meet counterparts from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, after the trio warned that sanctions could be reimposed on Tehran if it does return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme.
Western nations and Israel have long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied.
"In response to the request of European countries, Iran has agreed to hold a new round of talks," said foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai, as quoted by state TV.
The subject of the talks will be Iran's nuclear programme, it added.
A German diplomatic source had told AFP yesterday 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.
Israel launched on 13 June 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 22 June, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.
Kremlin meeting
Iran and the United States had held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran.
However, US President Donald Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended the talks.
The E3 countries last met with Iranian representatives in Geneva on 21 June - just one day before the US strikes.
Also yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a surprise meeting in the Kremlin with Ali Larijani, top adviser to Iran's supreme leader on nuclear issues.
Mr Larijani "conveyed assessments of the escalating situation in the Middle East and around the Iranian nuclear programme", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the unannounced meeting.
Mr Putin had expressed Russia's "well-known positions on how to stabilise the situation in the region and on the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear programme", he added.
Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran's clerical leadership and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the United States joined Israel's bombing campaign.
Snapback mechanism
Iran and world powers struck a deal in 2015 called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which placed significant restrictions on Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
But the hard-won deal began to unravel in 2018, during Mr Trump's first presidency, when the United States walked away from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
European countries have in recent days threatened to trigger the deal's "snapback" mechanism, which allows the reimposition of sanctions in the event of non-compliance by Iran.
After a call with his European counterparts on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Western allies had "absolutely no moral (or) legal grounds" for reactivating the snapback sanctions.
He elaborated in a post to social media yesterday.
"Through their actions and statements, including providing political and material support to the recent unprovoked and illegal military aggression of the Israeli regime and the US... the E3 have relinquished their role as 'Participants' in the JCPOA," said Araghchi.
That made any attempt to reinstate the terminated UN Security Council resolutions "null and void", he added.
"Iran has shown that it is capable of defeating any delusional 'dirty work' but has always been prepared to reciprocate meaningful diplomacy in good faith," Araghchi wrote.
However, the German source said that "if no solution is reached over the summer, snapback remains an option for the E3".
Ali Velayati, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last week there would be no new nuclear talks with the United States if they were conditioned on Tehran abandoning its uranium enrichment activities.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Inspector of prisons backs findings of jail report by European watchdog
The inspector of prisons Mark Kelly has echoed the 'deep concern' about the state of Irish prisons documented in a detailed report by a European inspection body. Mr Kelly said the findings by the Council of Europe Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) mirrors those that he has made. The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IRPT) welcomed the CPT report and said that key ways of reducing overcrowding are to expand the availability and use of community sanctions and reduce the increasing numbers of people being held on remand in custody pending trial. The comments come as prison overcrowding reached another record on Thursday, with 5,539 in custody. That compares to just under 5,000 when the CPT team visited in May 2024. In a brief statement online, the office of the inspector of prisons in Ireland said: 'Council of Europe anti-torture committee publishes its new report, highlighting deep concern about the state of our prisons. OIP Ireland echoes that concern and notes that the CPT's recommendations mirror those of the Inspectorate.' IPRT legal policy and public affairs manager Niamh McCormack said the committee left no room for doubt that the cumulative impact of conditions in prisons 'may well amount to inhuman and degrading treatment and that overcrowding turns prisons into human warehouses'. She said the IPRT recognised the Irish Prison Service is 'treading water' and that it was 'simply not possible' for it to comply with basic human rights. 'Responsibility does not fall solely on the prison authorities as the Government must take clear and immediate action to reduce the prison population and alleviate pressure on the system,' she said. IPRT supports the committee's recommendation that when a prison has reached capacity, no one else should be admitted. Some justice sources have said the focus on building more prison spaces has resulted in the need for alternatives to custody being 'drowned out'. They questioned how many recommendations on community sanctions in various government reports and policy documents had been implemented. The CPT said that while legislation enables the judiciary to impose alternative sanctions for short and medium-term custodial sanctions, they were 'not used as fully as they could be'. It called on Irish authorities to adopt more community sentence measures, in "a systemic approach" that includes judges. The IPRT has also called for a supported bail service, where people are supervised in the community by probation officers, to cut down on rising remand numbers. It has sought €300,000 to enable the Probation Service to run a pilot supported bail service for women and €270,000 to build capacity on restorative justice. Justice minister Jim O'Callaghan said on Wednesday that €495m in the revised National Development Programme would go to prison capital projects over the next five years and create 1,500 spaces. They will be at Castlerea, Cloverhill, Mountjoy, Portlaoise, Wheatfield, Midlands, Dóchas, and the Old Cork prison site. The projects at existing jails are not expected until 2028 onwards. Some sources have doubted the old Cork prison could be demolished and a new male and female prison, for 400-500 people, built there within five years.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Donald Trump to travel to Scotland for five-day trip
US President Donald Trump will travel to Scotland today for a five-day trip that will see him visit two of his golf resorts. During the latter part of his semi-private visit Mr Trump is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scottish First Minister John Swinney. However, a number of protests have been organised across Scotland, in opposition to Mr Trump's visit. They are due to take place tomorrow in areas such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. In a statement this week, the PSNI said that officers would "support Police Scotland colleagues in the planning and safe delivery of policing around the US presidential visit". Mr Trump will visit his Turnberry resort on the west coast of Scotland and his Aberdeen hotel on the east coast, where he is due to open a second golf course, named after his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. It is expected that the focus of Mr Trump's meeting with Mr Starmer will be on refining a trade agreement, with hopes on the British side that 25% tariffs on steel can be reduced. Speaking ahead of his arrival, Eddie Barnes, director of the school of social and political sciences at the University of Glasgow, said the visit presented an "opportunity" for Mr Starmer, in terms of having a chance to discuss key issues such as Gaza, Ukraine and trade. He also said it presented a similar opportunity for Mr Swinney, who has previously criticised Donald Trump and called for September's state visit not to go ahead. "Like the Irish, who have always been great at using any connection that visiting Presidents might have to Ireland, here we have a President who has a strong connection to Scotland and it's therefore a great opportunity for John Swinney to use those connections in Scotland's best interest", Mr Barnes explained. The visit to Scotland comes ahead of Donald Trumps official state visit to the UK in September.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Consumer sentiment slips in July amid concern over cost pressures and tariff threats, survey shows
Irish consumer sentiment has slipped backwards during July, amid renewed concerns over cost pressures and the threat of higher tariffs being implemented by the US, the latest Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Survey shows. The survey showed after a slight improvement across May and June, Irish consumer confidence slipped back this month towards the level seen in April, when tariffs announcement by US president Donald Trump prompted a deterioration. During July, the consumer sentiment index recorded a reading of 59.1, down from the 62.5 figure reported for June. The reading of 58.7 in April represented a two-year low. The July reading is well below the 70.5 recorded during the same month last year, and the long term average of 83.9. The Credit Union Irish Consumer Sentiment Survey is a monthly survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults conducted by Core Research. The analysis for the sentiment was written by economist Austin Hughes. Earlier this month, Mr Trump threatened to impose 30% tariffs on imports from the EU from August 1 if a deal is not reached. This is higher than the 20% he initially proposed on April 2, before he backtracked and lowered it to 10%. On Thursday morning, EU member states voted to approve counter-tariffs on €93bn on US goods in case a deal is not reached, potentially increasing prices here in Ireland. 'At current levels, the tone of consumer sentiment on the Irish economy is altogether more negative than that implicit in a range of recent forecasts for the Irish economy,' Mr Hughes said. 'While this doesn't mean Irish consumers envisage an imminent economic collapse, it does suggest very elevated fear and uncertainty, coupled with a strong sense that economic conditions could deteriorate markedly through the next 12 months.' 'It could also suggest that many consumers don't feel their own financial circumstances are as robust as the economy as a whole.'
