Iran to consult with Russia and China ahead of Friday nuclear talks with European nations

Iran, China and Russia will discuss Tehran’s nuclear activities and sanctions on Tuesday, with the E3 nations set for talks on Friday amid threats of reimposing sanctions.

A trilateral meeting will take place on Tuesday between Iran, China and Russia to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme and the risk of sanctions being reimposed, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Monday.

The meeting comes ahead of renewed nuclear talks with France, Germany and the UK —known as the E3 nations — scheduled for this Friday in Istanbul.

The three European powers, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme.

The deal began to unravel in 2018, when the US under President Donald Trump pulled out of it and began reimposing certain sanctions.

Since then, Iran has gradually increased its nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment up to 60%, a step away from weapon-grade nuclear materials, or 90% enrichment of uranium.

European countries have threatened to trigger the 2015 deal’s “snapback” mechanism, which would allow sanctions to be reimposed in the case of non-compliance by Tehran.

France, Germany and the UK have warned that they would do so if there is no progress on nuclear talks by the end of August.

Baghaei said Iran is “continuously coordinating” with Beijing and Moscw on how to prevent the snapback mechanism or “to mitigate its consequences”.

‘No plan’ for renewed talks with Washington

On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, stated in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the three European nations lack “any legal, political and moral standing” to invoke such mechanisms, and accused France, Germany and the UK of failing to uphold their commitments under the deal.

“The European parties have been at fault and negligent in implementing” the nuclear agreement, Baghaei added.

He also noted that “we have no plan for talks with America, under the current situation.”

Friday’s talks will be the first since a ceasefire following a 12-day conflict waged by Israel against Iran in June, which also saw the US strike three major nuclear facilities in Iran.

Nearly 1,100 people were killed in Iran, including dozens of military commanders and nuclear scientists. A total of 28 civilians were killed in Israel.

Iran has long said its nuclear activities have aimed at peaceful purposes.

“The agenda is clear: removal of the sanctions and issues related to Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme,” Baghaei said in his briefing on Monday.

Tehran has been one of Russia’s key allies in its all-out war against Ukraine, providing the Kremlin with its domestically produced Shahed suicide drones./Euronews/