The United Kingdom, France and Germany have signalled they are prepared to reinstate United Nations sanctions on Iran by the end of August, in case there is no clear progress on restarting the nuclear deal, two European diplomats said on Tuesday (local time).Ambassadors from the three nations met at Germany’s UN mission in New York to discuss next steps, as concerns mount over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The issue was also discussed in a phone call on Monday between US secretary of state Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two American officials.Following the call, the US state department said that all four leaders had talked about “ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon.”The three European nations are signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which was aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. The US pulled out of the accord during President Donald Trump’s first term, arguing the deal was not sufficient.Under the agreement, any party can trigger a “snapback” provision to reimpose UN sanctions if Iran is found to be non-compliant.French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot, said that the three European countries would be justified in reinstating sanctions.“With regard to Iran, the minister reiterated the priority of resuming negotiations to establish a long-term framework for Iran’s nuclear program,” said a French foreign ministry statement following after EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.“Without a verifiable commitment from Iran by the end of August at the latest, France, Germany and the U.K. will be justified in reapplying the UN sanctions (snapbacks) that were lifted 10 years ago,” AP quoted the ministry.The exact terms of the deal under consideration have not been disclosed. However, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran would be open to resuming nuclear talks with the US, but only with guarantees that further strikes, such as recent Israeli and American attacks on its nuclear sites, would not happen again.“The attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution,” Araghchi said, adding that a firm assurance against future strikes was necessary.The United States and Iran held multiple rounds of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme before Israeli strikes began in June. Last week, US President Donald Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said fresh talks were expected soon, but no date has been set yet.In a CBS interview on 2 July, Araghchi maintained that Iran remained open to diplomacy, stating, “the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.”Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian last week claimed US strikes had severely damaged key nuclear sites, making them inaccessible to Iranian authorities. In response, Tehran has halted cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Iran’s UN mission declined to comment on Tuesday regarding the European threat to reinstate sanctions.
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