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Iran, E3 hold 'serious, frank' talks, agree to continue consultations: Top diplomat

Iran Press TV

Friday, 25 July 2025 1:42 PM

Iran and the European troika—France, Britain and Germany—agree to continue discussion on sanctions relief and the nuclear issue, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has said.

Gharibabadi made the remark in a post on his X account on Friday at the end of another round of nuclear talks between Iran and the E3 at Iran's Consulate General in Istanbul.

The closed-door meeting, which lasted more than three hours, was attended by Iranian deputy foreign ministers Majid Takht-Ravanchi and Gharibabadi and senior representatives from the E3 countries. The discussions followed a similar round held on May 16 in Istanbul.

In his post, Gharibabadi said the Iranian negotiators held a "serious, frank, and detailed" discussion with Europeans about "the latest developments regarding the issue of sanctions lifting and the nuclear issue."

He added that the Iranian diplomats "seriously" criticized E3's stances regarding the recent Israeli-US war of aggression against the Iranian people.

"We explained our principled positions, including on the so-called snapback mechanism," Gharibabadi emphasized.

He affirmed that both sides came to the Istanbul meeting with specific ideas and examined various aspects regarding them.

In talks with his German, French, and British counterparts and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the EU and European troika need to abandon their "worn-out policies" of threat and pressure if they seek to play a role in any new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.

Pointing to repeated European threats about the activation of a mechanism that would re-impose hefty sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Araghchi said, "If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly, and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snapback' for which they lack absolutely no moral and legal ground."

Snapback would bring into force six previous Iran-related Security Council resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010. It would reinstate the expired UN arms embargo that barred countries from supplying, selling, or transferring most military equipment to Iran and prohibited Tehran from exporting any weapons.

It would also impose export controls, travel bans, asset freezes, and other restrictions on individuals, entities, and banks.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Friday that the talks in Istanbul are a test of the European parties' realism regarding the 2015 nuclear agreement—formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—and a valuable opportunity to correct their perspective.