Europeans and Iranians in talks to reach nuclear agreement

European and Iranian foreign ministers met Tuesday in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to resume discussions on Iran's nuclear program, with no agreement reached just yet.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry again voiced opposition to the possible reinstatement of U.N. sanctions on Iran, which have been frozen since 2015, calling them "unjustified and illegal." However, it did offer "some ideas and proposals to continue diplomacy." "It was agreed that consultations with all involved parties would continue," the ministry added in a statement, without specifying whether these would take place later this week in New York or after sanctions are reinstated on Sunday.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has until midnight Saturday to find consensus with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, British counterpart Yvette Cooper, French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, and European affairs chief Kaja Kallas. “Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons. And that’s why we are meeting again today,” the German minister told reporters earlier. “However ... the chances of finding a diplomatic solution before sanctions are triggered are extremely slim,” he acknowledged.

Last week, Iranians and Europeans blamed each other for the failure of diplomatic efforts, when the U.N. Security Council gave its green light for the reinstatement of sanctions, which will take effect on Sunday if no resolution is adopted to extend the lifting of sanctions agreed in 2015.

This issue is poisoning Iran’s relations with Western countries — especially the United States — and with Israel, who have long accused Iranian authorities of seeking to acquire a nuclear bomb. Tehran strongly denies this, claiming it is defending its right to civilian nuclear power.

The Europeans have set three conditions to extend the period of sanctions relief: resumption of direct, unconditional negotiations; full access granted to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to Iranian nuclear sites; and precise information about the location of enriched materials. But they believe none of these conditions have yet been met.

For its part, Tehran accuses them of applying pressure that harms discussions and claims to have put forth a "balanced" proposal, the details of which have not been disclosed. Alongside the Europeans, the Americans also launched talks in the spring via Oman, but Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites brought these to a halt.

Coordination with Washington?

The United States’ role is fundamental in this matter, as it withdrew in 2018 from the agreement signed in 2015.

The “JCPOA” treaty, concluded with Iran — and also signed by France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and China — provided oversight of Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. After U.S. withdrawal, Iran then abandoned some commitments, particularly regarding uranium enrichment.

In early September, a confidential IAEA report seen by AFP showed Iran had, before the 12-day war in June waged by Israel, accelerated the production of its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent, close to the 90 percent needed to manufacture a nuclear weapon.

The E3 group (France, Britain and Germany) reiterated last week its offer to extend the resolution in order to prolong sanctions relief by six months, to allow time for a new — or at least interim — agreement to be reached.

On Monday, European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said the European side is "ready for any discussion" and "diplomatic solution." She did admit, however, that it was "hard to say" what the chances of success are.

On the same day IAEA director Rafael Grossi stressed that talks are at a "difficult pivotal moment" while welcoming that discussions were continuing.

In an interview with AFP, he also discussed the involvement of U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, “who is exploring different channels” of communication. Questioned by AFP, French and American diplomatic sources did not confirm the possibility of a meeting this week in New York to coordinate their efforts.