Iran and Europeans begin nuclear talks with questions over future UN sanctions

Iran pushed back on Friday on suggestions of extending a U.N. resolution that ratifies a 2015 nuclear deal as it began the first face-to-face talks with Western powers since Israel and the U.S. bombed it last month.

Delegations from Iran, the European Union and the so-called E3 group of France, Britain and Germany, arrived for talks at the Iranian consulate in Istanbul.

The European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 deal - from which the U.S. withdrew in 2018 - that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.

A deadline of Oct. 18 is fast approaching when the resolution governing that deal expires.

At that point, all U.N. sanctions on Iran will be lifted unless a "snapback" mechanism is triggered at least 30 days before. This would automatically re-impose those sanctions, which target sectors from hydrocarbons to banking and defense. To give time for this to happen, the E3 have set a deadline of the end of August to revive diplomacy.


Reuters