WEST PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Iran of the &quot;consequences of not making a deal&quot; ahead of talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran in Geneva. &quot;I&#39;ll be involved in those talks, indirectly,&quot; the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Washington. &quot;I don&#39;t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,&quot; Trump added. The latest talks, scheduled for Tuesday and mediated by Oman, follow repeated threats from Trump of military action against Tehran &mdash; first over Iran&#39;s crackdown on protests, and then more recently over the country&#39;s nuclear program. The United States and some European countries fear the program is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies. Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed, including Iran&#39;s ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the Middle East. Iran&#39;s foreign ministry said earlier Monday that &quot;the US position on the Iranian nuclear issue has moved towards a more realistic one.&quot; A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran, beginning a 12-day war that Washington joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.

Americas

 US president says he will be involved in the “talks, indirectly"; US, some European countries fear that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies.

Trump warns Iran of 'consequences of not making a deal'

GENEVA: Iran said Monday that the US position on Tehran&rsquo;s nuclear program had &ldquo;moved towards a more realistic one&rdquo; ahead of a second&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/swiss-say-oman-to-host-usiran-talks-in-geneva-next-week" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">round of talks</a>, as Iranian and US officials prepared to meet amid rising regional tensions. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that, based on discussions held in Muscat, &ldquo;at least what we have been told is that the US position on the Iranian nuclear issue has moved towards a more realistic one,&rdquo; according to the official IRNA news agency. He said Iran&rsquo;s &ldquo;inalienable rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty were recognized,&rdquo; including the peaceful use of nuclear energy and enrichment. Iran&rsquo;s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Geneva at the head of a diplomatic and expert delegation for what Tehran described as &ldquo;indirect&rdquo; talks with the United States mediated by Oman. Iran&rsquo;s state-run IRIB said the second round of negotiations would take place on Tuesday. Araghchi said on X that he met with International Atomic Energy Agency (<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iran-says-cooperation-with-iaea-suspended-after-european-move-on-un-sanctions" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">IAEA</a>) chief Rafael Grossi in Geneva for a &ldquo;deep technical discussion.&rdquo; Grossi confirmed the meeting, calling it &ldquo;in-depth&rdquo; ahead of Tuesday&rsquo;s negotiations. Araghchi is also set to meet Swiss and Omani counterparts and other international officials, Iran&rsquo;s foreign ministry said. &ldquo;I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats,&rdquo; he wrote on X. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re hopeful there&rsquo;s a deal,&rdquo; adding that President Donald Trump &ldquo;always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes.&rdquo; The White House said Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump&rsquo;s son-in-law Jared Kushner were dispatched for the talks. Tehran and Washington restarted&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iran-fm-looks-to-more-nuclear-talks-but-warns-us" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">negotiations</a>&nbsp;this month after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran in June, triggering a 12-day war during which Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities. Key sticking points include Iran&rsquo;s stockpile of enriched uranium, which had reached 60% purity before the war. More than 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium were last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors in June. Iran has said the material remains under the rubble of nuclear sites struck during the conflict. Washington has repeatedly called on Tehran to reduce its enriched uranium stockpile to zero. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any deal must involve removing all enriched uranium from Iran and ending its enrichment capability. Israel has called for Iran to have &ldquo;no enrichment capability&rdquo; and for all enriched material to be transferred abroad. Iran insists on its right to enrichment but has said it is prepared to dilute its highly enriched uranium if all sanctions are lifted. Dilution involves blending enriched uranium with other material to lower its concentration below a specified threshold. Baqaei said Iran would press for the lifting of long-standing US sanctions that have deepened the country&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/iran-nuclear-deal-officially-ends-as-un-sanctions-return" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer">economic crisis</a>. &ldquo;Time is of the essence for us. Our people are under the pressure of oppressive sanctions, and reason and logic demand that we lift these sanctions as soon as possible,&rdquo; he said. Iran&rsquo;s deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, told the BBC that Tehran would consider compromises on its uranium stockpile if Washington lifts sanctions. &ldquo;If we see the sincerity on their part, I am sure we will be on a road to have an agreement,&rdquo; he said. Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari said Tehran was seeking a deal that would generate economic benefits for both countries, particularly in aviation, mining, and oil and gas sectors. &ldquo;For the agreement to be viable, it is essential that the United States also be able to benefit from it in areas with strong and rapid economic return potential,&rdquo; he was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. The talks come as Iran&rsquo;s Revolutionary Guards began military drills in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. State television said the exercises aim to prepare for &ldquo;potential security and military threats.&rdquo; Iranian politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the Strait, through which about 20% of global oil passes. Tensions have escalated after Washington deployed an aircraft carrier group to the Gulf following nationwide protests in Iran. Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Tehran, first over the reported crackdown on the protests, and more recently, over the nuclear program. On Friday, he said a change of government in Iran would be the &ldquo;best thing that could happen.&rdquo; Demonstrations against Iran&rsquo;s clerical authorities were held in several cities abroad over the weekend, including in the United States. Inside Iran, protesters have continued to shout slogans against authorities despite the crackdown. Switzerland has represented US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations following the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.

Asia

Iran says Washington’s approach to its nuclear program has shifted in a more realistic direction ahead of fresh talks, according to foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, who shared the view following discussions.

Iran says US stance on nuclear issue 'more realistic'

PARIS: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday he hoped talks with the United States would resume soon, while reiterating Tehran&#39;s red lines and warning against any American attack.&nbsp;According to excerpts published on his official Telegram channel during an interview with the Al Jazeera network, Araghchi said that Iran&#39;s missile programme was &quot;never negotiable&quot; in Friday&#39;s talks in Oman.&nbsp;He warned that Tehran would target US bases in the region if the US attacked Iranian territory.&nbsp;However, Araghchi also said that despite the talks in Muscat being indirect, &quot;an opportunity arose to shake hands with the American delegation&quot;.&nbsp;He called the talks &quot;a good start&quot;, but added that building trust would take time. He said the talks would resume &quot;soon&quot;.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump on Friday called the talks &quot;very good&quot;, and pledged another round of negotiations next week.&nbsp;Despite this, he signed an executive order effective from Saturday that called for the &quot;imposition of tariffs&quot; on countries still doing business with Iran.&nbsp;The United States also announced new sanctions against numerous shipping entities and vessels, aimed at curbing Iran&#39;s oil exports.&nbsp;More than a quarter of Iran&#39;s trade is with China, with $18 billion in imports and $14.5 billion in exports in 2024, according to World Trade Organization data.&nbsp;Araghchi told Al Jazeera that nuclear enrichment was Iran&#39;s &quot;inalienable right and must continue&quot;.&nbsp;&#39;Defence issue&#39;&nbsp;&quot;We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.&quot;&nbsp;He also said Iran&#39;s missile programme was &quot;never negotiable&quot; because it relates to a &quot;defence issue&quot;.&nbsp;Washington has sought to address Iran&#39;s ballistic missile programme and its support for militant groups in the region -- issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks, according to media reports.&nbsp;Tehran has repeatedly rejected expanding the scope of the negotiations beyond the nuclear issue.&nbsp;Friday&#39;s unprecedented talks between the two arch enemies came amid a major US military buildup in the region in the wake of Iran&#39;s crackdown on protests that began in late December, driven by economic grievances.&nbsp;Araghchi warned that Iran &quot;will attack their (US) bases in the region&quot; if Washington targets Iranian territory.&nbsp;The negotiations were the first since nuclear talks between Iran and the United States collapsed last year following Israel&#39;s unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, which triggered a 12-day war.&nbsp;During the war US warplanes bombed Iranian nuclear sites.&nbsp;Araghchi&nbsp;told Al Jazeera that if attacked again, &quot;we will attack their bases in the region&quot;, referring to the United States.&nbsp;The authorities in Iran have acknowledged that 3,117 people were killed in the recent protests, publishing on Sunday a list of 2,986 names, most of whom they say were members of the security forces and innocent bystanders.&nbsp;International organisations have put the toll far higher.&nbsp;Protests toll&nbsp;The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which has kept a running toll since the onset of the protests, says it has verified 6,872 deaths, mainly of protesters, and has another 11,280 cases under investigation. It has also counted more than 50,000 arrests.&nbsp;At Friday&#39;s talks in Oman the US delegation was led by Trump&#39;s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his influential son-in-law Jared Kushner.&nbsp;&quot;In a very positive atmosphere, our arguments were exchanged and the views of the other side were shared with us,&quot; Araghchi told Iranian state TV after the talks, adding that the two sides had &quot;agreed to continue negotiations&quot;.&nbsp;Speaking to the official IRNA news agency, Araghchi expressed hope that Washington would refrain from &quot;threats and pressure&quot; so that &quot;the talks can continue&quot;.&nbsp;On Saturday, Araghchi&nbsp;criticised what he labelled a &quot;doctrine of domination&quot; that allows Israel to expand its military arsenal while pressuring other states in the region to disarm.&nbsp;He was speaking at the Al Jazeera Forum conference in Qatar, but in his speech made no reference to Friday&#39;s talks in Oman with the United States.

Iran’s foreign minister signals talks with Washington may soon resume, calling negotiations a start, but restates red lines on missiles and enrichment, warns of strikes on US bases, as Trump praises talks while imposing sanctions.

Iran FM looks to more nuclear talks, but warns US

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran has asked for heavy US sanctions against Tehran to be lifted and that he is open to having a discussion about it. &quot;Frankly, Iran has been asking if the sanctions could be lifted. Iran has got very heavy US sanctions, and it makes it really hard,&quot; Trump said during a dinner with Central Asian leaders. &quot;I&#39;m open to hearing that, and we&#39;ll see what happens, but I would be open to it.&quot; Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Tehran has been reeling under years of international sanctions, especially after the United States in 2018 withdrew from an international nuclear accord with Tehran and reimposed tough punitive measures. In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a war that saw the United States join briefly with strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. The 12-day war with Israel, which prompted an Iranian response with missile and drone strikes, derailed nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington ,which had begun in April. Trump said that Iran had once been the &quot;bully of the Middle East&quot; but no longer had the &quot;possibility of nuclear weapons.&quot; The Republican president, who returned to office in January, has repeatedly said the strikes obliterated Iran&#39;s nuclear program, but the full extent of the damage remains unknown. In September, the United Nations reinstated sanctions against Tehran under the so-called &quot;snapback&quot; mechanism after Britain, France, and Germany triggered the process. Those measures bar dealings linked to the Islamic Republic&#39;s nuclear and ballistic missile activities. Oman, which has hosted several rounds of US-Iran nuclear talks, has called on both sides to return to negotiations. The talks had aimed for a new agreement that would curb Iran&#39;s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief. International stabilization force to be in Gaza &lsquo;very soon&rsquo;Separately, while speaking, President Trump said he expects a US-coordinated international stabilization force to be on the ground in Gaza &quot;very soon,&quot; following two years of war in the territory between Israel and Hamas. The multinational force &mdash; likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates &mdash; is part of Trump&#39;s post-war governance plan for Gaza. The plan helped lead to a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group on October 10, but the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has not abated. &quot;It&#39;s going to be very soon. And Gaza is working out very well,&quot; Trump said at the function with Central Asian leaders. &quot;You haven&#39;t been hearing too much about problems, and I&#39;ll tell you, we&#39;ve had countries that have volunteered if there&#39;s a problem with Hamas.&quot; The force is supposed to train and support vetted Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip, with backing from Egypt and Jordan. It will also be tasked with securing border areas and preventing weapons smuggling to Hamas, which triggered the conflict with its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. On Wednesday, the United States circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution to partner nations aimed at shoring up Trump&#39;s plan, including by greenlighting the international force. Washington&#39;s UN envoy Mike Waltz shared the draft with the 10 elected Security Council members and several regional partners &mdash; Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey &mdash; a spokesperson for the US mission said in a statement. A vote has not yet been scheduled. According to diplomatic sources, several countries have indicated their willingness to participate in the force, but insist on a Security Council mandate before actually deploying troops into the Palestinian territory. The head of the US Central Command, the military command responsible for the Middle East, said last month during a visit to Gaza that no US troops would be deployed there.

US president says international stabilization force to be deployed in Gaza “very soon”; Tehran has been reeling under years of international sanctions, especially after US withdrew from international nuclear accord with Iran, reimposing tough punitive measures.

Trump says 'open' to considering lifting Iran sanctions

LONDON: Britain, France and Germany will seek to restart stalled nuclear talks with Iran and the United States, the three European countries said in a joint statement on Friday. Their announcement came nearly two weeks after UN sanctions were reimposed on Iran, under a &quot;snapback&quot; process the three European nations had initiated and which became effective from September 28. Iran has said that, following those revived sanctions, it would not immediately resume nuclear talks. In their joint statement, Britain, France and Germany said: &quot;We are determined to reinitiate negotiations with Iran and the United States towards a comprehensive, durable and verifiable agreement that ensures Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.&quot; A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, on Monday said that &quot;we have no plans for negotiations at this stage&quot;. He added that Iran was examining the &quot;consequences and implications&quot; of the restart of sanctions. &quot;Of course, diplomacy -- in the sense of maintaining contacts and consultations -- will continue,&quot; Baqaei said. &quot;Whenever we feel that diplomacy can be effective, we will certainly make decisions based on the country&#39;s interests and priorities,&quot; he added. Western countries, spearheaded by the United States and joined by Israel, accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons -- a charge Tehran has long denied. The United States on June 22 bombed nuclear sites in Iran, joining an Israeli air campaign against various targets in the country. France, Germany and Britain -- known as the E3 in the context of negotiations with Iran -- said in Friday&#39;s statement that &quot;it was right that the snapback mechanism had been triggered&quot;. &quot;Iran&#39;s nuclear program poses a serious threat to global peace and security,&quot; they added. In 2015, the United States, with the three European countries, Russia, and China concluded an agreement with Iran providing for the regulation of Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. President Donald Trump decided during his first term in 2018 to withdraw the United States from the deal and to reinstate US sanctions. In retaliation, Iran pulled back from some of its commitments, particularly on uranium enrichment. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only country without a nuclear weapons programme to enrich uranium to 60 percent. That is close to the threshold of 90 percent required for a bomb, and well above the far lower level needed for civilian nuclear use.

Europe

Middle East

United Kingdom

Britain, France, and Germany announced plans to restart nuclear talks with Iran and the U.S. after UN sanctions were reimposed, urging renewed diplomacy to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons amid heightened regional tensions

UK, France, Germany aim to restart Iran nuclear talks

NEW YORK: Widespread UN sanctions against Iran returned into force late Saturday for the first time in a decade, after last-ditch nuclear talks with Western powers failed to produce a breakthrough. The sanctions, three months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran, bar dealings related to Tehran&#39;s nuclear and ballistic missiles program and are also expected to have wider effects on its troubled economy. European and US diplomats stressed immediately after the resumption of sanctions that diplomacy was not over. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Tehran to &quot;accept direct talks, held in good faith.&quot; He also called on UN member states to &quot;immediately&quot; implement sanctions to &quot;pressure Iran&#39;s leaders to do what is right for their nation, and best for the safety of the world.&quot; The British, French and German foreign ministers said in a joint statement they would continue to seek &quot;a new diplomatic solution to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.&quot; They also called on Tehran &quot;to refrain from any escalatory action.&quot; Iran has allowed UN inspectors to return to its nuclear sites, but President Masoud Pezeshkian said the United States had offered only a short reprieve in return for handing over its whole stockpile of enriched uranium, a proposal he described as unacceptable. An 11th-hour effort by Iran allies Russia and China to postpone the sanctions until April failed to win enough votes in the Security Council on Friday, leading to the measures taking effect at midnight GMT Sunday, or 8 pm on Saturday in New York. Germany, which triggered the return of sanctions alongside Britain and France, had &quot;no choice&quot; as Iran was not complying with its obligations, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. &quot;For us, it is imperative: Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon,&quot; he told the UN General Assembly. &quot;But let me emphasize: we remain open to negotiations on a new agreement. Diplomacy can and should continue.&quot; Russia made clear it would not enforce the sanctions, considering them invalid. The sanctions &quot;finally exposed the West&#39;s policy of sabotaging the pursuit of constructive solutions in the UN Security Council, as well as its desire to extract unilateral concessions from Tehran through blackmail and pressure,&quot; Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Iran has long contended that it is not seeking nuclear weapons. No longer just US sanctionsThe sanctions are a &quot;snapback&quot; of measures frozen in 2015 when Iran agreed to major restrictions on its nuclear program under a deal negotiated by former president Barack Obama. The United States already imposed massive sanctions, including trying to force all countries to shun Iranian oil, when President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in his first term. Iran and the United States had held several rounds of Omani-brokered talks earlier this year before they collapsed in June when first Israel and then the United States attacked Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran recalled its envoys from Britain, France and Germany for consultations on Saturday, state television reported. &quot;The current (economic) situation was already very difficult, but it&#39;s going to get worse,&quot; said an Iranian engineer who asked to be identified only by his first name Dariush. &quot;The impact of the renewed sanctions is already evident: the exchange rate is increasing, and this is leading to higher prices,&quot; the 50-year-old told AFP, lamenting a standard of living that is &quot;much lower&quot; than it was &quot;two or three years ago.&quot; The dollar was trading at around 1.12 million rials on the black market on Saturday, a record high according to several currency tracking websites. An AFP journalist at Tehran&#39;s Grand Bazaar saw brisk business at jewelry stores as people rushed to buy gold. Economic &#39;malaise&#39;The United States already enforces unilateral sanctions on Iran and has put huge pressure on third countries to stop buying Iranian oil, although China has defied it. Brussels-based think tank the International Crisis Group said Iran seemed dismissive of the renewed UN sanctions as it had already worked out how to cope with the US ones. But it noted that the snapback was not easy to reverse as it would require consensus at the Security Council. &quot;It is also likely to compound the malaise around an economy already struggling with high inflation, currency woes and deepening infrastructure problems,&quot; it said. In an address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged no delay in reinstating the sanctions. He also hinted that Israel was ready to take further military action after the 12 days of bombing that Iranian authorities say killed more than 1,000 people in June.&nbsp;

Portrait of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

UN sanctions on Iran snap back after failed nuclear talks, three months after US and Israeli strikes. The measures target Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs, worsen its economic crisis, and leave diplomacy open but fragile.

Sweeping UN sanctions return to hit Iran after nuclear talks fail

Tehran: Iran and Russia signed a $25 billion deal to build nuclear power plants in the Islamic republic, Iranian state media reported Friday, just hours ahead of the likely return of sweeping UN sanctions on Iran. &quot;A deal for the construction of four nuclear power plants with a value of $25 billion in Sirik, Hormozgan was signed between the Iran Hormoz company and Rosatom,&quot; state television said. Iran has just one operational nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the south, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts -- just a fraction of the country&#39;s energy needs. According to state news agency IRNA, each plant will have a capacity of 1,255 megawatts, though no details were provided on the timeline. The move comes as so-called snapback sanctions triggered by the European parties to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran are set to return by the end of Saturday. Britain, France and Germany triggered the sanctions last month, accusing of Iran of failing to adhere to its commitments under the agreement. At a Security Council session on Friday, China and Russia put forward a draft resolution to allow another half year for talks, but it is unlikely to garner enough support to pass. Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking an atomic bomb -- a charge Tehran vehemently denies, defending its right to a civilian nuclear programme. The United States in 2018 unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear accord with Iran, prompting Tehran to begin walking back its commitments. Talks between Washington and Tehran to strike a new deal were underway, before being derailed by unprecedented Israeli strikes on Iran in June that began a 12-day war briefly joined by the United States. Iran had previously signed with Russia a nuclear energy deal in 1993 allowing for the construction of the Bushehr plant, after Germany had abandoned it in the wake of the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Iran and Russia signed a $25 billion deal to build nuclear power plants in the Islamic republic.

Tehran, Moscow sign $25 bn deal to build nuclear plants in Iran: state media

Sweeping UN sanctions look likely to return on Iran despite a last-ditch effort on Friday by China and Russia for a delay to allow further talks, diplomats say. European powers were urging Iran to reverse a series of steps it took after Israel and the United States bombed its nuclear sites in June. Complaining that Iran has not complied with a landmark but moribund deal, the Europeans have triggered a return of sweeping UN sanctions &mdash; notably on its banking and oil sectors &mdash; that are set to take effect at the end of Saturday. China and Russia at a Security Council session on Friday put forward a draft resolution, seen by AFP, that would give another half year for talks, or until April 18, 2026. But diplomats said they did not expect it to receive the nine votes on the 15-member Security Council for passage. French President Emmanuel Macron met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday and said a deal was possible to avoid the sanctions but that Iran had only hours left. One diplomat, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said late Thursday that the Europeans believed they had &quot;done everything to try to move things&quot; but that Iran did not offer the desired flexibility. France &mdash; speaking for itself, Germany and Britain &mdash; has told Iran it must allow full access to UN nuclear inspectors, immediately resume nuclear negotiations and offer transparency on highly enriched uranium, the whereabouts of which has been the subject of speculation. &nbsp;&#39;Illegal and irresponsible&#39;&nbsp;The 2015 deal, negotiated during Barack Obama&#39;s presidency, lifted sanctions in return for Iran drastically scaling back its controversial nuclear work. President Donald Trump in his first term withdrew from the deal and imposed sweeping unilateral US sanctions, while pushing the Europeans to do likewise. The Chinese and Russian draft resolution, in a reference to the United States, would call on all initial parties to the deal to &quot;immediately resume negotiations.&quot; On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his British counterpart, Yvette Cooper, to discuss the row. Araghchi &quot;strongly criticized the position of the three European countries as unjustified, illegal and irresponsible,&quot; the Iranian foreign ministry said. Steve Witkoff, Trump&#39;s real estate friend and roving envoy who had been negotiating with Iran until Israel attacked, said on Wednesday that Iran was in a &quot;tough position&quot; but also held out hope for a solution. &quot;I think that we have no desire to hurt them. We have a desire, however, to either realize a permanent solution and negotiate around snapbacks,&quot; Witkoff told the Concordia summit on the sidelines of the General Assembly. &quot;If we can&#39;t, then snapbacks will be what they are. They&#39;re the right medicine,&quot; Witkoff said. Iran has long contended that it is not seeking nuclear weapons, pointing to an edict by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and US intelligence has not concluded that the country has decided to build a nuclear weapon. But Israel, the United States, and European countries have long been skeptical due to the country&#39;s advanced nuclear work, believing it could quickly pursue a bomb if it so decided. Standing at the General Assembly rostrum this week, Pezeshkian showed pictures of people killed in the 12-day Israeli military campaign against Iran in June, which Tehran says killed more than 1,000 people. The United States joined in the campaign on June 22, striking several of Iran&#39;s nuclear facilities.

Complaining that Iran has not complied with landmark but moribund deal, Europeans have triggered a return of sweeping UN sanctions that are set to take effect at the end of Saturday.



Iran sanctions look set to return after last-ditch UN vote

TEHRAN: Iran&#39;s top security body said Saturday that action by Britain, France and Germany to reimpose UN sanctions will &quot;effectively suspend&quot; its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.&nbsp;&quot;Despite the foreign ministry&#39;s cooperation with the (International Atomic Energy) Agency and the presentation of plans to resolve the issue, the actions of European countries will effectively suspend the path of cooperation with the agency,&quot; the Supreme National Security Council said in a televised statement.&nbsp;The announcement comes after the Security Council voted on Friday to reimpose frozen UN sanctions after the European governments activated the &quot;snapback&quot; mechanism in a decade-old nuclear agreement, accusing Iran of non-compliance.&nbsp;The vote means that the sanctions, which were suspended in return for curbs on Iran&#39;s nuclear activities set out in the 2015 deal, will take renewed effect on September 28 unless Iran can persuade the council to relent in the next week.&nbsp;Tehran said the action by the European powers undermined months of engagement with the IAEA aimed at resuming monitoring and ensuring compliance with international rules.&nbsp;Earlier this month, Iran and the IAEA reached an agreement in Cairo that would have allowed inspections of Iranian nuclear sites to resume.&nbsp;Iran had suspended them after Israel, and the United States attacked its nuclear facilities in June.&nbsp;Western governments have long accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition Tehran denies.&nbsp;Tehran has also criticized the IAEA for failing to condemn the Israeli and US strikes.&nbsp;The European governments have said they will not delay the reimposition of UN sanctions unless Iran resumes full cooperation with the IAEA and reopens nuclear talks with the United States, which have been suspended since June.

Iranian flag flies in front of a U.N. building 

The actions of European countries effectively suspend the path of cooperation with the agency, the Supreme National Security Council said in a televised statement.

Iran says cooperation with IAEA suspended after European move on UN sanctions

UNITED NATIONS: A U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at halting the reimposition of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program failed Friday after weeks of last-ditch diplomatic talks appeared to break down days before the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders. The resolution put forth by South Korea, the current president of the 15-member council, did not garner the support of the nine countries required to halt the series of sanctions from taking effect at the end of the month, as outlined in Iran&rsquo;s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Only four countries &mdash; China, Russia, Pakistan and Algeria &mdash; supported the effort, with some using the meeting to blast the European leaders for what they called an unjustified and illegal action against Iran. &ldquo;Their only goal now is to use the council as a tool for their bad faith play, as a lever to exert pressure on the state in favor of a state which is trying to defend its sovereign interests,&rdquo; Vassily Alekseevich Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador to the U.N., said ahead of the vote. France, Germany and the United Kingdom moved last month to trigger the &ldquo; snapback mechanism,&rdquo; which automatically reimposes all U.N. sanctions that were in effect before the nuclear deal. Those penalties included a conventional arms embargo, restrictions on ballistic missile development, asset freezes, travel bans and a ban on producing nuclear-related technology. The process is designed to be veto-proof unless the U.N.&#39;s most powerful body agrees to stop it. Over the last several weeks, intensified diplomacy between Iran and the European countries has taken place, but without a resolution so far and indications that sanctions were likely. When asked in an interview on Thursday on Israel&rsquo;s Channel 12 whether the &ldquo;snapback&rdquo; was a done deal, French President Emmanuel Macron said, &ldquo;Yes, I think so because the latest news we had from the Iranians are not serious.&rdquo; German and European Union leaders had warned Iran in a call on Wednesday that it had yet to take the necessary action to stop the reimposition of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which is already reeling from a 12-day war and a decades-long financial crisis. &ldquo;The window for finding a diplomatic solution on Iran&rsquo;s nuclear issue is closing really fast,&rdquo; the EU&rsquo;s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said in a statement.&nbsp;&ldquo;Iran must show credible steps towards addressing the demands of France, U.K. and Germany, and this means demonstrating full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and allowing inspections of all nuclear sites without delay.&rdquo; In a statement issued hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi again asserted that the reimposition of U.N. sanctions was &ldquo;lacking any legal or logical justification.&rdquo; He also pointed to the fact that Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog earlier reached a deal mediated by Egypt to grant the IAEA access to all&nbsp;Iranian nuclear sites and for Tehran to report on the whereabouts of all its nuclear material. Details of the agreement were not immediately released. In an address last week to his agency&rsquo;s board of governors in Vienna, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi said the document &ldquo;provides for a clear understanding for the procedures of inspection notifications and their implementation.&rdquo; The agreement &ldquo;includes all facilities and installations in Iran and it also contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities including the nuclear material present at those,&rdquo; Grossi added, noting it will &ldquo;open the way for the respective inspections and access&rdquo; without specifying when that would happen. A 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June saw both the Israelis and the Americans bomb Iranian nuclear sites, throwing into question the status of Tehran&rsquo;s stockpile of uranium enriched nearly to weapons-grade levels. Using the &ldquo;snapback&rdquo; mechanism will likely heighten tensions between Iran and the West. It&rsquo;s unclear how Iran will respond, given that in the past, officials have threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, potentially following North Korea, which abandoned the treaty in 2003 and then built atomic weapons.

U.N. resolution to stop Iran sanctions snapback failed, clearing path for penalties as Europe cites nuclear deal violations and Tehran protests.

Articles tagged with "Iran nuclear deal"