Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday that Tehran told Europe's top three powers the revival of the "snapback" mechanism, re-mposing UN sanctions on Iran, will have consequences. Baghaei said Tehran told Europeans during a meeting in Geneva they do not have the right to trigger the mechanism, adding both sides would continue nuclear talks in the coming days. Senior officials from Iran and Europe's top three powers met in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss the Westerners' demand that Iran revive nuclear inspections and diplomacy or face the reimposition of sanctions that were lifted under a 2015 deal.
France, Britain and Germany, known as the E3, have long threatened to trigger the "snapback" of sanctions at the United Nations Security Council by October, when the now largely defunct nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers expires.
They have more recently said they plan to decide by the end of August unless Iran offers concessions that could convince them to hold off for a short time, often referred to as an extension. Talks are tense as Iran is furious at the bombing in June of its nuclear facilities by the US and Israel, the E3's allies. "We are going to see whether the Iranians are credible about an extension or whether they are messing us around. We want to see whether they have made any progress on the conditions we set to extend," one E3 official said. (Read More)
