After Talks With Russia, Iran To Renew Nuclear Talks With Britain, France and Germany

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a surprise meeting in Kremlin with Ali Larijani, top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader on nuclear issues, to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme on Sunday.

Putin and Larijani discussed the escalating situation in the Middle East and issues surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, Reuter quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Larijani shared assessments of the “escalating situation in the Middle East and around the Iranian nuclear programme,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Putin emphasised Russia’s “well-known positions on how to stabilise the situation in the region and on the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear programme,” Peskov added.

In light of the United States' attack on Iranian nuclear facilities amidst the Israel-Iran conflict on June 22, the state media have reportedly confirmed that Iran is set to have talks with European powers on Friday.

Iranian diplomats are to be in dialogue with their counterparts from Britain, France and Germany, a trio also known as E3. It had earlier warned Iran of reimposing sanctions on it if it returned to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme.

“In response to the request of European countries, Iran has agreed to hold a new round of talks over Iran’s nuclear programme,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai, as quoted by the state media on Monday.

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”.

“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,” said a German diplomatic source to the AFP.

Iran and the US had held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran. US President Donald Trump’s decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities, however, effectively ended the talks. The E3 countries last met with Iranian representatives in Geneva on June 21, one day before the US strikes.

Iran and world powers struck a deal in 2015 called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which placed significant restrictions on the country’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

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 last Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Western allies had “absolutely no moral (or) legal grounds” for reactivating the snapback sanctions.