Iran To Meet European Diplomats Amid Escalating Nuclear Tensions
Iranian diplomats will meet with their British, French, and German counterparts on Nov. 29 to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program, Iran’s foreign ministry said Sunday, just days after the UN’s atomic watchdog passed a resolution condemning Tehran’s lack of cooperation.
The resolution, sponsored by the three European powers and the US, a bloc otherwise known as the Quad, was adopted by the 35-member International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors last Thursday.
The Quad Joint Statement, which was released by the US State Department on Saturday, emphasized Tehran’s failure to address long-standing issues regarding undeclared nuclear material and that the IAEA had already issued a warning in June.
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“Iran has consistently failed to implement the commitments it has made to the Agency,” the statement read, urging Iran to resolve these issues and reengage with dialogue.
In response to the resolution, Iran activated advanced centrifuges to accelerate uranium enrichment. Despite the move seen as heightening nuclear risks, a senior Iranian official confirmed the upcoming meeting with the Europeans, stating, “Tehran has always believed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomacy. Iran has never left the talks.”
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that deputy foreign ministers from each of the participating countries will attend the talks, which will also address regional issues as well as the nuclear program. The meeting’s location remains undisclosed.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency, which first reported on the meeting, said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government was looking to ease tensions ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. During Trump’s first tenure in the White House, his administration withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.
