Tehran: Iran’s best minister predicted that Turkey’s nuclear talks with Britain, France, and Germany would probably take place after this week. European minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran that the next round, at the level of deputy foreign officials, is scheduled to take place on Friday in Istanbul. French diplomatic resources added that the meeting would be held on Friday in Turkey at the direction of political managers, according to AFP. The meeting, which had been scheduled for earlier this month but was postponed, was also unreported from London or Berlin. Iran has held a number of covert discussions with the three European countries on the nuclear debate since late last year, most recently in Geneva, in advance of direct conversations with Washington that started on April 12. ” We are also ready to talk with the Europeans while we keep the speech going with the United States,” Araghchi said. Without going into further detail, he continued,” Unfortunately, the Europeans themselves have become relatively isolated in these conversations with their own guidelines.” We do not need such a circumstance, he said, and that’s why we have kept our conversations with them going. Following a square of Oman-mediated discussions between Tehran and Washington on Sunday, Friday’s expected meeting comes to an end. The four US-Irani discussions were the highest-level exchanges in ages between the long-standing adversaries since US President Donald Trump abruptly ended the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Trump has resumed his “maximum force” strategy against Tehran since taking office in January. He backed nuclear diplomacy, but he also warned of possible military action if it doesn’t work. Iran has long been accused of attempting to acquire nuclear weapons by European nations, including the United States, but the country insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. A so-called” snapback” mechanism was included in the 2015 agreement between Iran and big powers like the United States, which parties may trigger to formally impose UN sanctions on Iran for its non-compliance. The option expires in October, but French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has warned that” we will not hesitate for a one second to return all the restrictions that were lifted ten years ago.” Iran now enriches uranium to 60 percent, which is significantly above the 3.67 percentage limit set by the 2015 agreement but still below the 90 percent level for weapons-grade materials. Tehran calls for the destruction of all Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities, while Washington calls it a “red line” while calling for it as “non-negotiable.”
