Iran says Europeans fail to respect 2015 nuclear deal

Tehran on Monday accused Britain, France and Germany of failing to respect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, after they threatened to reimpose sanctions over its atomic program.

“The European parties have been at fault and negligent in implementing” the nuclear agreement, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.

The three European countries – known as the E3 nations – have warned that sanctions could be reimposed on Iran if it does return to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

Baghaei also said on Monday that Iran and the E3 will hold nuclear talks at the deputy foreign minister level in Istanbul on Friday.

The talks scheduled for Friday come after foreign ministers of the E3 countries, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief, held their first call on Thursday with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago.

The three European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal reached with Iran, from which the United States withdrew in 2018, that lifted sanctions on the Middle Eastern country in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.

The E3 have said they would restore UN sanctions on Tehran via the “snapback mechanism” by the end of August if nuclear talks that were ongoing between Iran and the U.S. before the Israel-Iran air war do not resume or fail to produce concrete results.

“If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the ‘snapback’ for which they lack absolutely [any] moral and legal ground,” Araqchi said earlier in the week.

The snapback mechanism can be used to restore UN sanctions before the UN Security Council resolution enshrining the deal expires on October 18.

Prior to the Israel-Iran war, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment in Iran, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimize any risk of weaponization.

Tehran maintains its nuclear program is solely meant for civilian purposes.

(With input from agencies)