EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said the coming weeks offer an “opportunity” to hammer out a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear programme, after European powers triggered a 30-day deadline for sanctions to come back into force.
“We are entering a new phase with these 30 days that is now giving us also the opportunity to really find diplomatic ways to find a solution,” Kallas told journalists.
“We have 30 days to sort things out,” she added.
France, Britain, and Germany on Thursday set off a so-called ‘snapback’ mechanism that could reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran in 30 days for failing to comply with commitments over its nuclear programme it agreed to a decade ago.
The move followed weeks of warnings about Iran’s alleged violations of the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, under which sanctions had previously been suspended.
Iran has warned it will “respond appropriately” to the move, which could jeopardize years of sustained diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear crisis.
But the United Nations has also said the next 30 days represent a “window of opportunity” to strike a new deal.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that “Iran’s nuclear escalation must not go any further,” but emphasised the move “does not signal the end of diplomacy.”
