Iran has rejected an offer from the European Union to hold direct nuclear talks with the US, according to senior diplomats, which jeopardizes the new tension between Tehran and Western capitals.
Two senior Western diplomats said Iran did not want to attend a meeting in Europe for the time being, and said it only wanted a guarantee that the US would lift some sanctions after the meeting.
The US has said it will attend the talks, which the EU had hoped to host in the coming days. However, Washington refused to ease sanctions before negotiations with Iran took place.
Diplomats said Iran’s rejection had not killed all hope of direct negotiations in the coming months and that Tehran’s move would possibly be an attempt to gain leverage in future talks. These talks could begin before the Iranian new year at the end of March.
Yet Iran’s move is likely to exacerbate tensions in the coming days.
A State Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
At stake are the EU’s efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal from which the Trump administration withdrew and whose borders Iran subsequently violated. Both the government of Biden and Iran say they want to restore the agreement, but the two parties have been stimulated by a debate that needs to move on first.
As the dispute has frustrated, France, the UK and Germany are working on a resolution they plan to submit to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board next week condemning Iran for its recent steps to expand its nuclear activities and the fails to cooperate. with the agency’s investigation into its core work.
Iran has warned that if the move of abuses continues, it could end an agreement it signed with the IAEA earlier this month, which will allow most international inspections to continue. Iran had earlier said it would significantly restrict inspectors’ access to its nuclear activities, but this scaled back the move after IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi visited Tehran.
If Iran pursues the threat, it will significantly reduce international oversight of Iran’s nuclear work, a situation that Mr. Grossi said the agency’s ability to keep Iran’s nuclear program in check would spur.
The Biden government has said it wants to return to the nuclear deal, but will not suspend sanctions against Iran until Tehran reverses the multiple steps to break the 2015 nuclear deal.
European diplomats have warned that if Iran stays away from the talks, which the EU hopes to arrange for next week, it could leave Tehran more diplomatically isolated. However, one senior European diplomat said that Iran was afraid to go home empty-handed from a meeting with the US, which could cause a major setback in Iran.
Write to Laurence Norman at [email protected] and Michael R. Gordon at [email protected]
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