DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is set to meet with officials from Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3, in Vienna, Iran’s state-run Nournews agency reported on Sunday, as international sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme are set to be reimposed at the end of this month.
“In this trip, mutual negotiations are scheduled as well as reviewing issues related to Iranian-European relations,” the agency said, without giving the date of the talks.
In a bid to avert the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran, Iranian and European ministers engaged in discussions last week. The talks did not yield significant breakthroughs, according to two European diplomats and one Iranian diplomat.
The E3 launched a 30-day process at the end of August to reimpose U.N. sanctions. They set conditions for Tehran to meet during September to convince them to delay the “snapback mechanism”.
The European trio has proposed a conditional delay of up to six months on the reimposition of sanctions on Iran. This offer is contingent upon Iran granting access to United Nations nuclear inspectors, who aim to verify and account for the country’s substantial stockpile of enriched uranium. Additionally, Iran is expected to engage in negotiations with the United States.
The status of Iran’s enriched uranium reserves has remained uncertain since June, following the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites by Israel and the United States.
The West says the advancement of Iran’s nuclear programme goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran says it wants nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.
(Reporting by Elwely ElwellyEditing by Ros Russell)
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