Days before a European deadline, Iran said Friday that its foreign minister had phone conversations with his counterparts in France, Germany, and Britain to prevent the reimposition of U.N. sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the call as the three nations threatened to use the 2015 Iran nuclear deal's "snapback" clause by the end of the month, which permits any party to reimpose sanctions if it discovers that Iran is not complying with conditions like international oversight of its nuclear program.
The Iranian program, which was enriching uranium to levels close to weapons-grade prior to the bombing of its atomic sites during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, has only increased European concerns since Tehran severed all ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency in the aftermath of the conflict. The international community is now even less aware of Iran's program and its stockpile of uranium that has been enriched to 60% purity, a quick technical step toward 90% weapons-grade levels.
Despite being the only non-nuclear-armed country enriching uranium at that level, Iran has long maintained that its program is benign. Iran allegedly had a nuclear weapons program until 2003, according to the U.S., the IAEA, and others.
Araghchi attacked the countries' "legal and moral qualifications" to threaten to reinstate the sanctions, but he vowed that discussions will continue, according to a statement issued on his behalf via Telegram following the call.
According to the statement, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has never given up on diplomacy and is open to any diplomatic solution that protects the rights and interests of the Iranian people, even as it acts authoritatively in self-defense."
On the social media site X, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that the conversations had taken place and stated that more negotiations will take place the following week.
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