Iran to hold nuclear talks with three European powers

Britain, France and Germany have accused Iran of increasing its stockpile of high-enriched uranium

The Iranian flag outside the International Atomic Energy Agency's headquarters in Vienna. Iran had 'candid' nuclear talks with the three European countries in November. Reuters

Iran will hold nuclear talks with France, Britain and Germany on January 13 in Switzerland, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran revealed on Wednesday.

“The new round of talks between Iran and three European countries will be held in Geneva on January 13,” said Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, according to ISNA news agency. He added the talks were only “consultations, not negotiations”.

The three European countries on December 17 accused Iran of increasing its stockpile of high-enriched uranium to “unprecedented levels” without “any credible civilian justification”. They have also raised the possibility of restoring sanctions against Iran to keep it from developing its nuclear programme.

Iran has in recent years increased its manufacturing of enriched uranium such that it is the only non-nuclear weapons state to possess uranium enriched to 60 per cent, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog said. That level is well on the way to the 90 per cent required for an atomic bomb.

On November 29, Iran held a meeting with the three European powers in Geneva which Mr Gharibabadi at the time described as “candid”.

Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and has consistently denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons capability. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, has issued a religious decree, or fatwa, prohibiting atomic weapons. Late on Monday, Iran's security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian said Iran has “not changed” its nuclear doctrine against pursuing atomic weapons.

The talks on January 13 will take place one week before Donald Trump's return to the White House. In 2015, Iran and world powers – including France, Britain and Germany – reached an agreement that saw the easing of international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

But the United States, during Mr Trump's first term as president, unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and reimposed biting economic sanctions. Tehran adhered to the deal until Washington's withdrawal, and then began rolling back on its commitments.