Iran has reaffirmed its right to enrich uranium on the eve of a key meeting with European powers threatening to reimpose nuclear sanctions.
Friday’s meeting, set to take place in Istanbul, will bring Iranian officials together with officials from Britain, France and Germany – known as the E3 nations – and will include the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.
It will be the first since Israel’s mid-June attack targeting key Iranian nuclear and military sites led to a 12-day war that ended in a ceasefire on June 24.
“Especially after the recent war, it is important for them [European countries] to understand that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s position remains unshakable, and that our uranium enrichment will continue,” the Tasnim news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying on Thursday.
The United States joined its ally Israel in the offensive, striking three Iranian nuclear facilities overnight between June 21 and 22.
Israel launched its attack on Iran just two days before Tehran and Washington were set to resume negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Thursday that Tehran would be prepared to engage in further talks on its nuclear programme with the US if Washington takes meaningful steps to rebuild trust.
In a social media post, Gharibabadi also said that for talks to take place with the US, Tehran would seek “several key principles” to be upheld.
These include “rebuilding Iran’s trust – as Iran has absolutely no trust in the United States”, he said, adding there could be no room “for hidden agendas such as military action, though Iran remains fully prepared for any scenario”.
Britain, France and Germany – alongside China, Russia and the US – are parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which placed major restrictions on its atomic activities in return for the gradual lifting of United Nations sanctions.
However, in 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement during Donald Trump’s first term as president and reimposed its own sanctions.
Britain, France and Germany maintained their support for the 2015 accord and sought to continue trade with Iran.
But they have since accused Tehran of failing to uphold its commitments and are threatening to reimpose sanctions under a clause in the agreement that expires in October – something Iran is eager to avoid.
The IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, says Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country currently enriching uranium to 60 percent – far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 accord. Ninety percent enrichment is required for a nuclear weapon.
Western powers, led by the US and backed by Israel, have long accused Tehran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran has repeatedly denied this, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes such as energy production.
Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of nuclear talks starting in April, but a planned meeting on June 15 was cancelled after Israel launched its strikes on Iran.
