Iran says European powers have no grounds to reimpose sanctions

Foreign ministers from France, Germany, the UK and the EU's foreign policy chief stress need for Tehran to resume nuclear negotiations

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has held talks with the three European powers and the EU. EPA

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told his European counterparts that they have no grounds to reactivate UN sanctions after they threatened to do so unless there is progress in nuclear talks.

Iran and the US held several rounds of negotiations aimed at reviving a nuclear deal, but those efforts were derailed when Israel launched strikes on Iran in June, leading to 12 days of war.

"If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snapback' for which they have absolutely no moral or legal grounds," Mr Araghchi wrote in a post on X on Friday, referring to the bloc, France, Germany and the UK.

Mr Araghchi and the foreign ministers of the three countries, as well as the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, held a joint teleconference on Thursday.

During the meeting, the ministers told Mr Araghchi of "their determination to use the 'snapback' mechanism, which allows for the reimposition of all international sanctions against Iran, in the absence of concrete progress" towards a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme "by the end of the summer", the French Foreign Ministry said.

Pressure is being increased on Iran to convince it of "the urgency of returning to the diplomatic path without delay, in order to reach a robust, verifiable and durable agreement on Iran's nuclear programme", the ministry added.

Under the terms of a UN resolution ratifying the 2015 nuclear deal, the three European powers have the ability to trigger the process before October 18. This would allow them to reimpose sanctions if they determine that Iran is not complying with the agreement. European diplomats are seeking progress by the end of August.

There has been much speculation about the status of Tehran's nuclear programme since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites in June.

After the ceasefire in the Israel-Iran war, both sides signalled interest in returning to the negotiating table. But Tehran has insisted that it has a right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

"It was the US that withdrew from a two-year negotiated deal co-ordinated by EU in 2015 – not Iran, and it was the US that left the negotiating table in June this year and chose a military option instead, not Iran," Mr Araghchi said. "Any new round of talks is only possible when the other side is ready for a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial nuclear deal."