Araghchi: Time for E3 to avert ‘preventable crisis’
Iran’s foreign minister told his European counterparts on Wednesday that his country has entered talks with the UN nuclear agency with a responsible approach and now it is the turn of European parties to use the opportunity to continue the diplomatic path and prevent a “preventable crisis”.
Abbas Araghchi and his counterparts from France, Germany and Britain held new round of nuclear negotiations aimed at preventing the reimposition of international sanctions against Iran.
The three countries, the so-called E3, launched a 30-day process at the end of August to reimpose UN sanctions. They set conditions for Tehran to meet during September to convince them to extend the "snapback mechanism".
The offer by the E3 to extend the snapback for as much as six months to enable serious negotiations is conditional on Iran restoring access for UN nuclear inspectors – who would also seek to account for Iran's large stock of enriched uranium – and engaging in talks with the US.
The status of Iran's enriched uranium stocks has been unknown since Israel and the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Wednesday's phone call followed an agreement reached by Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last week on resuming cooperation between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog.
There has also been no indication of a willingness from Iran to resume talks with Washington.
Iran says it is still working to refine how it will work with IAEA.
Araghchi pointed to Iran’s principled stance on the importance of maintaining dialogue and diplomacy to prevent escalating tensions, saying that the move by the three European countries to reinstate the UN sanctions lacks any “legal or logical justification”.
The Iranian foreign minister stressed that Iran is ready to reach a “fair and balanced solution” that guarantees mutual benefits.
“Achieving such a goal requires a responsible and independent approach by the three European countries and refraining from being influenced by actors who place no value on diplomacy or the principles and rules of international law”, Araghchi said.
Citing two European and one Iranian diplomat, Reuters reported that Iranian and European ministers made little progress in talks on Wednesday.
Germany said Wednesday that the "ball is still in Iran's court".
A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said the offer from the so-called E3 powers "to discuss a temporary extension of the snapback if Iran fulfils certain conditions remains on the table", but added that "at this point the steps taken by Iran have not been sufficient".
The reimposed sanctions would hit Iran's financial, banking, hydrocarbons and defense sectors.
Four European diplomats and an Iranian official said prior to the call that the most likely scenario would be that the E3 would go ahead with the reimposition of sanctions. Two of the diplomats also said that even with a last-minute agreement, it was unlikely Washington would support it.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Wednesday Iran expects European powers to respond positively to its signing of a new cooperation agreement with the UN nuclear watchdog.
"We have demonstrated that we are not averse to diplomacy and take every opportunity to safeguard the interests and benefits of the Iranian nation," Baqaei said during his weekly press conference.
"It is natural to expect that Iran's positive approach and good-faith efforts will be met with similar and reciprocal action from the European parties."