Iran And European State E3 Hold Nuclear Negotiations In Istanbul

JAKARTA - Iran rejected a proposal to extend the UN resolution that ratified the 2015 nuclear deal, following the start of the first face-to-face negotiations with Western powers since Israel and the US bombed it last month.

Delegations from Iran, the European Union, and a group called the E3 consisting of France, Britain, and Germany, arrived to negotiate at the Iranian consulate in Istanbul.

European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to the 2015 deal lifting sanctions against Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

The October 18 deadline is getting closer when the resolution governing the deal expires.

At the time, all UN sanctions against Iran would be lifted unless the "snapback" mechanism was triggered at least 30 days earlier.

This will automatically reimpose these sanctions, which target various sectors ranging from hydrocarbons to banking and defense.

To give time for this, E3 set a deadline for late August to revive diplomacy.

Diplomats said they wanted Iran to take concrete steps to convince them to extend the time limit to six months.

Iran needs to make commitments to key issues including negotiations with Washington, full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and responsible for 400 kg (880 pounds) of high-level enriched uranium approaching weapons, whose whereabouts have been unknown since last month's attack.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, July 25, minutes before negotiations began, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told state news agency IRNA Iran considers talks on the extension of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 "meanless and baseless".

The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran before its June airstrike, which US President Donald Trump said had "destroyed" a program aimed at acquiring a nuclear bomb.

However, NBC News quoted current US officials and former US officials as saying the US assessment further found the attack destroyed most of Iran's three targeted nuclear sites, but the other two locations were not badly damaged.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

European diplomats and Iran say Iran has no prospect of re-negotiating with the US at the negotiating table for now.