General view of the Iranian consulate where Iran is holding nuclear negotiations with the "E3" group comprised of France, Great Britain, and Germany, in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 25, 2025. (Credit: Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)
Iran declared Tuesday that it is "negotiating with all its might" to prevent the Europeans from triggering this fall the mechanism for reinstating international sanctions provided for under the 2015 nuclear agreement.
"Our priority is to prevent any action or incident that could be costly for the country," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press briefing, ahead of talks scheduled Tuesday in Geneva with Britain, France and Germany.
The Europeans resumed dialogue with Tehran at the end of July on its nuclear program, during a meeting in Istanbul. It was the first such meeting after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which began June 13 following an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites.
The three European countries — known as the E3 in diplomatic language — are threatening to trigger this fall the "snapback" mechanism of international sanctions against Iran, as foreseen by the 2015 nuclear deal, in the absence of a negotiated solution. This agreement, the JCPOA, imposed significant restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a gradual lifting of U.N. sanctions.
Western powers fear that Iran is pursuing its nuclear program in order to acquire nuclear weapons, which Iranian authorities deny. The United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reimposed its own sanctions, but members of the E3 had reaffirmed their commitment to the 2015 text and their willingness to continue trade with Iran. As a result, U.N. and European sanctions had not been reinstated.
However, the European countries accuse Tehran of failing to respect its commitments and have threatened to reinstate sanctions before the expiration in October of a provision in the agreement allowing it. They proposed to Tehran an extension of this deadline if Iran resumed talks with Washington and restored its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "We will not allow this issue to become a tool of psychological warfare against ... our citizens," Baqaei warned.
On Friday, his minister Abbas Araghchi highlighted "the lack of legal and moral authority" of the European powers to use the "snapback" mechanism.
Iran negotiator vows 'decisive' response to US-Israeli attack