Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragut says he is ready to travel to Europe for consultations on Tehran’s nuclear program. France shows that if Tehran shows it is seriously engaged, the European powers are also ready for dialogue.
Iran resumed in Oman on Saturday and is trying to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the US after talks with Russia and China this week. The message to the European powerhouse, which was a party to the Iranian nuclear deal in 2015, suggests that Tehran is leaving options open.
Since September, three European powers known as Tehran and E3-France, Germany and the UK, have already had several discussions on their bonds and nuclear issues.
The latest in March was held at a technology level, examining parameters for future transactions to ensure a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions against it.
European diplomats have said they wanted a new meeting with Iran, but momentum for talks seemed to have slowed down this month when Tehran began indirect negotiations with President Donald Trump on a nuclear program.
Trump, who abandoned the Landmark 2015 Agreement between Tehran and the world powers during his first term in 2018, quickly reached a new deal, threatening to attack Iran unless the agreement prevented the development of nuclear weapons.
“The relationship between Iran and E3 has experienced ups and downs in recent history. They are now down, whether they like it or not,” Araguchi writes in X.
“I propose diplomacy again. After recent consultations in Moscow and Beijing, I am ready to take my first step with my visit to Paris, Berlin and London. …The ball is currently on the court at E3.”
“Diplomatic Solutions”
The European powers have worsened relations with Iran over other issues, including ballistic missile programs, detention of foreign citizens and support for Russia in the war in Ukraine.
When asked about Aragut’s comments, French Europe and foreign affairs spokesman Christophe Lemoines said that E3 supported the dialogue but wanted to see how serious Iran is.
“The only solution is a diplomatic solution, and Iran must be resolutely involved in this path and will continue to talk with Iranians as it is a proposal that E3 has proposed many times,” he said at a press conference.
Germany and the UK did not immediately comment on the issue.
The US did not speak to European countries about nuclear talks in Oman before Trump announced them, but held a key card on the possibility of a re-confiscation of UN sanctions against Tehran.
However, two European diplomats say US technology negotiator Michael Anton explained to the E3 diplomats in Paris on April 17, suggesting that coordination has improved.
A spokesman for Tehran’s Foreign Ministry said Iranian and US experts will be held on Saturday, with a third round of high-level nuclear negotiations scheduled for the same day in Oman.
Anton, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021, will lead a team of around 12 U.S. government officials to negotiate.
Western countries have long been suspected of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and they have consistently denied it. The updated threat of sanctions aims to pressure Tehran to concessions and provide a detailed discussion of strategies between Americans and Europeans.
As the United States resigned from its 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, it is unable to launch a mechanism to reimpose sanctions called Snapback at the UN Security Council.
This allows E3, the only other participant in the 2015 deal, to pursue snapbacks and is interested.
According to a diplomat cited by Reuters, E3 diplomats are considering causing a snapback by August, as opposed to the early June time frame, if no substantial deal was found by then. The opportunity expires on October 18th, when the 2015 agreement ends.