European powers will likely reimpose international sanctions on Iran by the end of the month after their latest round of talks with Tehran aimed at preventing them were deemed not serious, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3, launched a 30-day process at the end of August to reimpose UN sanctions. They set conditions for Tehran to meet during September to convince them to delay the “snapback mechanism”.
The offer by the E3 to put off the snapback for up to six months to enable serious negotiations is conditional on Iran restoring access for UN nuclear inspectors – who would also seek to account for Iran’s large stock of enriched uranium – and engaging in talks with the US.
When asked in an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 whether the snapback was a done deal, Macron said:
“Yes. I think so because the latest news from the Iranians is not serious.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said later on Thursday that he had presented a “reasonable and actionable plan to E3/EU counterparts to avert an unnecessary and avoidable crisis in the coming days.”
Read: Iran asked to end uranium enrichment
In a post on X, Araqchi said the proposal “addresses genuine concerns” and described it as mutually beneficial, but did not provide further details on what it entails.
E3 foreign ministers, the European Union foreign policy chief and their Iranian counterpart held a phone call on Wednesday, in which diplomats on both sides said there had been no substantial progress though the door was still open to try and reach a deal before the deadline expired.
The 15-member UN Security Council will vote on Friday on a resolution that would permanently lift UN sanctions on Iran – a move it is required to take after the E3 launched the process.
The resolution is likely to fail to get the minimum nine votes needed to pass, say diplomats, and if it did it would be vetoed by the United States, Britain or France.
After the US and Israel bombed Iran’s uranium-enrichment plants in June, arguing Iran was getting too close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon, even though the International Atomic Energy Agency that inspects Iran’s nuclear facilities said it had no credible indication of a coordinated weapons programme.
Read more: Iran, European powers agree to resume talks next week
The E3 have said they might hold off on completing that process if Iran lets IAEA inspections fully resume, accounts for its enriched uranium and holds direct nuclear talks with the United States.
Iran reached an agreement with the IAEA last week to pave the way towards resuming inspections. It is unclear whether enough progress will be made to satisfy the Europeans.
The US and Israel bombed Iran’s uranium-enrichment plants in June, arguing Iran was getting too close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon, even though the International Atomic Energy Agency that inspects Iran’s nuclear facilities said it had no credible indication of a coordinated weapons programme.
