Nuclear negotiations between Iran and three European countries – France, Germany, and the UK – are set to resume in Istanbul on Friday. The talks come after warnings from the European trio that failure to revive negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Tehran.
The meeting, scheduled to take place at the deputy foreign minister level, follows a call between the foreign ministers of the three European countries, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The European countries, along with China and Russia, are part of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which the US withdrew from in 2018. The agreement had lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.The resumption of talks comes after a surprise Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities last month, which killed top military officials, nuclear scientists, and hundreds of civilians.
The US also launched strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
The European countries have threatened to restore UN sanctions on Iran by the end of August if nuclear talks do not resume or fail to produce concrete results. A ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect on June 24.