On Friday, July 25th, Iran rejected the idea of extending the UN resolution supporting the 2015 nuclear deal during its first in-person talks with Western powers since last month’s bombings by Israel and the U.S.
The meeting held in Istanbul with the participation of EU representatives and delegates from the so-called E3 (France, Germany, UK) may help restart nuclear inspections.
European countries, China, and Russia are trying to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal before UN sanctions expire on October 18th. If no action is taken, the sanctions will be lifted. France, Germany, and the UK, who are still parties to the deal from which the U.S. pulled out in 2018 under President Trump, want Iran to show progress by the end of August so the deal can be extended by six months.
Iran would need to meet key conditions like cooperating with the UN nuclear agency, explaining missing enriched uranium, and agreeing to future talks with the U.S. for the 2015 nuclear deal to be extended.
But Iran rejected the idea of extending the UN resolution as meaningless on Friday. While the IAEA hopes inspections can restart soon, diplomats say Iran is not ready to negotiate directly with the U.S.
