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European powers are planning fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear program in the coming days, marking the first diplomatic engagement since the United States attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago, a German diplomatic source told AFP on Sunday.
Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, "are in contact with Iran to schedule further talks for the coming week," the source said. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the three European countries, citing an unnamed source.
Consultations are ongoing regarding a date and location for the talks, with the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reporting that negotiations will be conducted at the deputy foreign minister level.
The talks are expected to take place on Sunday in Geneva or Vienna.
Iran and the three European countries have reached agreement on the basis for negotiations, though consultations continue regarding the timing and venue of the talks, according to diplomatic sources.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected European threats to trigger the nuclear deal's "snapback mechanism," arguing that the E3 countries have lost their legal standing to reimpose UN sanctions after violating the agreement's foundations.
"In the letter, I outlined that the E3 lacks any legal, political and moral basis to activate the nuclear agreement and UN Resolution 2231 mechanisms," Araghchi said in a post on X, referring to letters sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas.
Araghchi argued that Britain, France and Germany have "relinquished their role as 'Participants' in the JCPOA" by providing political and material support to recent U.S. attacks on Iran.
"This situation has rendered null and void any attempt to reinstate the terminated UN Security Council resolutions," the Iranian minister stated.
The diplomatic outreach comes after a series of military actions against Iran's nuclear facilities. On June 13, Israel launched surprise strikes targeting key military and nuclear facilities in Iran.
The United States followed with its own strikes on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordow in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.
"Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon," the German source said. "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 program."
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, U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended those talks.
The E3 countries last met with Iranian representatives in Geneva on June 21, just one day before the U.S. strikes.
European countries have threatened to trigger the deal's "snapback" mechanism, which allows the reimposition of sanctions in the event of non-compliance by Iran. The deadline for implementing this mechanism expires on October 18.
After a call with his European counterparts on Friday, Araghchi said the Western allies had "absolutely no moral or legal grounds" for reactivating the snapback sanctions.
"Iran waited for a long time for European parties to fulfill their obligations after the US brought back sanctions in 2018. In response, the E3 backed down from their commitments and actively contributed to the US's so-called 'maximum pressure' policy and recently to military aggression against our people," Araghchi stated.
Ali Akbar Velayati, former foreign minister and currently a senior aide to Ayatollah 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.
However, the German source indicated that "if no solution is reached over the summer, snapback remains an option for the E3."
Araghchi referenced German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's statement about Israel's attacks on Iran as "dirty work that Israel is doing for all of us," saying: "As I emphasized in my letter, 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."
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