ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Tehran is scheduled to hold a new round of nuclear talks with three European countries within the next two weeks, an Iranian official announced on Wednesday.
“A fresh round of talks between Iran and the EU3 (France, the UK, and Germany) will begin in Switzerland’s Geneva on January 13,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Kazem Gharibabadi was cited by Tasnim News Agency as saying.
Iran earlier in December said they would consider dropping out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in case the “snapback” mechanism is enforced.
The “snapback” mechanism described in the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), restores United Nations sanctions against Iran that were lifted under the agreement.
“It is to clarify the issues and further consultations if negotiations are to take place, in what framework and by what method,” he added.
In their previous meeting with the EU3, Iran stated that they had not negotiated but had only “simply discussed and exchanged opinions.”
Ali Larijani, an advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, indicated in November that Tehran would be willing to enter a new nuclear agreement with US President-elect Donald Trump, but that it has conditions.
Larijani added that compensation is expected for the damages caused by the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear pact.
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, known as JCPOA, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions. The deal began unraveling in 2018, when Washington, under Trump’s first administration, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed a sanction regime of “maximum pressure” on the Islamic republic.
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