Europe Threatens Iran With UN Sanctions If It Does Not Continue Nuclear Negotiations

Isfahan Iran/PHOTO nuclear site location: LANCE FIRE FIRMS operated by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - France, Britain and Germany have urged Iran to immediately continue diplomacy regarding its nuclear program. The three countries warn that if there are no concrete steps until the end of the summer, they will reimpose UN sanctions.

Foreign ministers from a group called E3, along with the EU's foreign policy chief, made their first phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi since Israel and the United States launched airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program in mid-June.

Speaking after the phone call, a French diplomatic source said ministers had asked Iran to immediately continue diplomatic efforts to reach a verifiable and sustainable nuclear deal.

The three countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties in the 2015 deal with Iran that lifted sanctions against the country in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

The UN Security Council's resolution that perpetuates the deal will end on October 18 and on its terms, UN sanctions could be reinstated beforehand. The process will take about 30 days.

European countries have repeatedly warned that unless there is a new nuclear deal, they will launch a "shuffle mechanism", which will restore all previous UN sanctions against Iran if it violates treaty terms.

"The ministers have also reaffirmed their determination to use the so-called 'snapback' mechanism if there is no concrete progress towards such an agreement by the end of the summer," the diplomatic source said.

The source did not specify what concrete progress would be made.

Since the airstrikes, inspectors from the UN atomic watchdog have left Iran.

Although Iran has expressed its openness to diplomacy, there is no indication that the sixth round of nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran will resume soon.

Diplomats say if they continue negotiations, reaching a comprehensive agreement before the end of August "the deadline given by Europe" seems unrealistic, especially without inspectors on the ground assessing Iran's remaining nuclear program.

Two European diplomats said they hoped to coordinate strategies with the United States in the coming days with the aim of immediately holding negotiations with Iran.

Earlier, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran was ready to respond to any new military offensive. He stressed that Tehran was able to throw greater punches at the enemy than it launched during Iran-Israel's 12-day war.

"The fact that our nation is ready to face the strengths of the United States and its bound dog, the Zionist regime (Israel), is very worthy of praise," Khamenei said in a statement broadcast by state TV as reported by Reuters, Wednesday, July 16.

Israel and the US launched attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities last month, arguing that the facility was part of a nuclear weapons development program. Tehran insists its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.

"The base attacked by Iran is a very sensitive American regional base," Khamenei said referring to the Iranian missile attack at the Al Udeid base in Qatar.

"A bigger blow can happen to the US and other countries," he stressed.