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24-07-2025
TEHRAN: Iran has no plans to abandon its nuclear program including uranium enrichment despite the “severe” damage caused by US strikes to its facilities, the country’s foreign minister said ahead of renewed talks with European powers.
Iran is scheduled to meet Britain, France and Germany in Istanbul on Friday, to discuss its nuclear program, with Tehran accusing European powers of scuppering a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
The meeting will be the first since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel last month, during which the United States carried out strikes against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
For now, enrichment “is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Monday but “obviously we cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists,” he continued, calling it a source of “national pride”.
US President Donald Trump responded to the comments on his platform Truth Social, saying Washington would carry out strikes again “if necessary”.
The 2015 agreement, reached between Iran and UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
However, it unraveled in 2018 when the United States, during Trump’s first term, unilaterally withdrew and re-imposed sweeping sanctions.
Though Europe pledged continued support, a mechanism intended to offset US sanctions never effectively materialized, forcing many Western firms to exit Iran and deepening its economic crisis.
“Iran holds the European parties responsible for negligence in implementing the agreement,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei ahead of Friday’s talks in Istanbul on the deal’s future.
Iran will also host a trilateral meeting Tuesday with Chinese and Russian representatives to discuss the nuclear issue and potential sanctions.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing would “continue to play a constructive role in pushing relevant sides to restart dialogue and negotiations, and reach a solution that takes in account the legitimate concerns of all parties”.
In recent weeks, the three European powers have threatened to re-impose international sanctions on Tehran, accusing it of breaching its nuclear commitments.
Germany said the Istanbul talks would be at the expert level, with the European trio, or E3, working “flat out” to find a sustainable and verifiable diplomatic solution.
“If no solution is reached by the end of August… the snapback also remains an option for the E3,” said its foreign ministry spokesman, Martin Giese.
A clause in the 2015 agreement allows for UN sanctions on Iran to be re-imposed through a “snapback” mechanism in the event of non-compliance.
However, the agreement expires in October, leaving a tight deadline.
‘No intention of speaking with America’
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country currently enriching uranium to 60 percent, far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by the 2015 accord.
That is a short step from the 90 percent enrichment required for a nuclear weapon.
Using the snapback clause was “meaningless, unjustifiable and immoral”, Baqaei told a news conference, arguing that Iran only began distancing itself from the agreement in response to Western non-compliance?
“Iran’s reduction of its commitments was carried out in accordance with the provisions outlined in the agreement,” he said. (Int’l News Desk)
