Nuclear talks scheduled for Tuesday, August 26th between Iran and Britain, France and Germany will be held in Geneva, Iranian state media reported.
“On Tuesday, Iran and the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, along with the European Union, will hold a new round of talks at the level of deputy foreign ministers in Geneva,” the state television said on Monday.
The meeting will mark the second since Iran’s 12-day conflict with Israel in mid-June, during which the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites.
The first round of talks took place in Istanbul on July 25th, after Tehran suspended cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog (IAEA) following the war with Israel.
The European trio has warned it may trigger the “snapback mechanism” of the 2015 nuclear deal—a move that would reinstate previously lifted UN sanctions—unless Iran limits its uranium enrichment and renews cooperation with IAEA inspectors.
Iran disputes the legality of invoking the clause, accusing the Europeans of not honouring their commitments under the accord.
Britain, France and Germany—along with China, Russia, and the United States—reached an agreement with Iran in 2015 under a deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The deal provided Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon.
The deadline for activating the “snapback mechanism” ends in October, but according to the Financial Times, the Europeans have offered to extend the deadline if Iran resumes nuclear talks with Washington and re-engages with the IAEA.
