The European Union and Iran will meet in Istanbul to discuss the nuclear agreement

Iran, together with the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, the group known as the E3, will hold a new round of nuclear talks in Istanbul this Friday, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, who confirmed it on Monday.

The meeting will take place at the level of deputy foreign ministers and represents an attempt to resume dialogue after weeks of tension and threats of re-imposing international sanctions.

This diplomatic approach comes in a delicate context. At the end of June, Iranian nuclear facilities were attacked by Israel and the United States, increasing uncertainty regarding the negotiations.

Last Thursday, the E3 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs held their first conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi since those attacks.

European countries recently warned that if talks are not resumed soon or if no concrete results are achieved, they will restore UN sanctions against Iran through the mechanism known as snapback.

This procedure allows for the automatic reimposition of international sanctions included in the 2015 nuclear agreement if one of the parties considers that Iran has failed to meet its commitments.

The nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed in 2015 between Iran and six powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and Russia).

In exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program and allow international inspections. However, in 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the ineffective pact and imposed new sanctions on Tehran.

Since then, Iran has significantly increased its uranium enrichment, exceeding the levels allowed for civilian use, has restricted access to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and has expanded its ballistic missile program.

Although Tehran keeps that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, many Western countries fear that it is moving toward the capability to manufacture nuclear weapons. Israel, meanwhile, claims that Iran has already taken concrete steps toward "military nuclearization."

In his most recent statement, Araghchi accused the European powers of acting irresponsibly and without moral or legal basis by threatening to activate the snapback. "If the EU/E3 wants to have a role, it must set aside worn-out policies of pressure and threat, including the 'snapback,' which have no legitimacy," he stated.

Before the recent conflict between Israel and Iran, Tehran and Washington had held five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations, mediated by Oman. However, the talks stalled due to key differences, especially regarding the level of uranium enrichment that the West demands be reduced to zero, while Iran insists on its right to develop "civil nuclear energy."

China and Russia, also signatories of the 2015 agreement, continue to support its validity, while the United States, although no longer part of the pact, has maintained indirect contacts with Iran on the issue.