European diplomats met with Iranians on Friday face-to-face for the first time since Israel and the U.S. bombed the country last month.
The “serious, frank and detailed” meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, lasted for about four hours, and the officials all concurred to meet again for further negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
Sanctions that were lifted on Iran in 2015 following its agreement to restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear efforts could be reinstated if Iran fails to meet requirements.
One of Europe’s E3 nations – Britain, France, and Germany, who conducted the talks with Iran – might reinstate sanctions under the “snapback” mechanism, which permits a European country to restore U.N. sanctions if Iran breaches the conditions.
Iran said that the U.S. needs to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal – after President Trump pulled America out of it in 2018 – saying Iran has “absolutely no trust in the United States.”
The U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22, a little over a week after Israel had bombed the country over national security concerns about its nuclear program.
A military truck carries a missile past a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an annual military parade. (ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages))
Iran responded by attacking Israel and a U.S. Army base in Qatar.
Isreal and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on June 24.
The IAEA issued a concerning report in May that said that Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium had grown by nearly 50% in three months.
