Iran, UK, France, Germany eye nuclear talks amid sanction warnings
Britain , France and Germany could hold talks next week on Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, following warnings by the three European countries that failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.
'The principle of talks has been agreed upon, but consultations are continuing on the time and place of the talks. The country in which the talks could be held next week has not been finalised,' Tasnim reported, quoting a source informed on the matter.
The report on possible talks comes a few days after the foreign ministers of the so-called E3 nations, as well as the
European Union 's foreign policy chief, held their first call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi since
Israel and
the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago.
The three European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal reached with Iran – from which the United States withdrew in 2018 – that lifted sanctions on the Middle Eastern country in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme.
The E3 have said they would restore UN sanctions on Tehran via the so-called 'snapback mechanism' by the end of August if nuclear talks that were ongoing between Iran and the US before the Israel-Iran air war do not resume or fail to produce concrete results.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned European nations against invoking the 'snapback' mechanism for sanctions if nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington were to stall. AP
'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 lack absolutely moral and legal ground,' Araqchi said earlier this week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
UK slams fresh Hong Kong bounties on activists as ‘transnational repression'
Britain has hit out at Hong Kong's move to place a new round of bounties on 15 overseas activists accused of national security offences, saying it is another example of 'transnational repression' that only damages the city's international reputation. Advertisement UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also stressed on Friday that Britain was committed to the safety of all individuals settled there and had taken steps to 'complete the severing of ties' between the extradition systems of the country and Hong Kong. 'This government will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong, including those who have made the UK their home. We take the protection of their rights, freedoms, and safety very seriously, and will not tolerate any attempts by foreign governments to coerce, intimidate, harass, or harm their critics overseas,' Lammy and Cooper said. The joint statement by the two senior British officials was made hours after the city's national security police placed the bounties on the 15 activists and issued new arrest warrants against four more, over their involvement in the 'Hong Kong Parliament', a group deemed as subversive by authorities. A bounty of HK$200,000 was placed on each of the 15 activists listed in the latest announcement, as police accused those behind the group of violating the Beijing-decreed national security law by attempting to unlawfully overthrow and undermine the constitutional system, and Chinese and Hong Kong authorities. Advertisement Some of them are reportedly based in the UK, Canada and Taiwan.
South China Morning Post
14 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
In Trump's tariff deals with Southeast Asia, will there be any winners?
Now that Donald Trump's arbitrary July 9 deadline for negotiations on 'reciprocal' tariffs has come and gone, what are the implications for Southeast Asia? To date, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are the only countries in the region to have secured so-called deals. Other countries are left with the previously announced April tariffs intact, although the negotiating deadline has been extended for three weeks to August 1. As things stand, there remain few winners in Southeast Asia in the ongoing saga. Details on the agreement with Vietnam are sparse, but it seems Hanoi has managed to get its initial 'reciprocal' tariff rate of 46 per cent reduced to 20 per cent. A 40 per cent tariff will be applied on transshipped products – without an exact definition of exactly what constitutes 'transshipment'. Trump posted on social media that Vietnam had granted the US 'TOTAL ACCESS' to its market, which seems to amount to a duty waiver on US products entering Vietnam. An artisan works on a pair of leather boots in Indonesia. Indonesian goods entering the US will face a 19 per cent tariff. Photo: AFP
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
UK, France and Germany say Gaza ‘humanitarian catastrophe must end now'
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany demanded Israel allow unrestricted aid into Gaza to end a 'humanitarian catastrophe', after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country would become the first major Western power to recognise a Palestinian state. The joint statement, issued after a call between Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, called for an immediate ceasefire and said that 'withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable', though it broke no new diplomatic ground. The leaders said they 'stand ready to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political process that leads to lasting security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region', but did not say what that action might be. Macron's surprise announcement exposed differences among the European allies, known as the E3, over how to ease the worsening humanitarian crisis and end the Israel-Gaza war. All three support a Palestinian state in principle, but Germany said it has no immediate plans to follow France's step, which Macron plans to formalise at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Palestinians pile onto an aid truck returning to Gaza City from the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Photo: AP Britain has not followed suit either, but Starmer is under mounting pressure to formally recognise Palestinian statehood, both from opposition lawmakers and from members of his own Labour Party government. Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Tuesday called for an announcement 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'.
