With uranium enrichment accelerating and threats of UN sanctions looming, Iran and European powers will resume high-stakes nuclear talks in Geneva amid a backdrop of war, strikes, and deep mistrust.
Amid the fallout of a 12-day war with Israel and subsequent US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites, negotiators from Iran and European powers will sit down Tuesday in Geneva for a fresh round of nuclear talks, Reuters reported.
This marks only the second meeting since mid-June, when fighting erupted between Israel and Iran, plunging diplomacy into crisis.
Iran has suspended cooperation with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing the watchdog of silence over Israeli and US strikes that targeted its nuclear facilities. Tehran insists the agency has abandoned neutrality by failing to condemn what it calls acts of aggression.
Meanwhile, Britain, France, and Germany—the so-called E3—are threatening to invoke the “snapback mechanism” under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). If triggered, this clause would automatically reimpose sweeping UN sanctions that were lifted under the original nuclear deal.
European officials say they will act unless Iran halts uranium enrichment and allows inspectors back into its facilities. Iran, however, disputes the legality of such a move, accusing the Europeans of failing to honor their own JCPOA commitments.
A joint call between the foreign ministers of Iran and the E3 last Friday was described as “tense”, with Axios reporting that the conversation yielded no tangible progress.
As for the United States, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doubled down on Sunday, declaring that hostility with Washington is “unsolvable”:
“The Iranian nation will stand with all of its power against those who have such erroneous expectations. They want Iran to be obedient to America.”
Iran continues to insist it is not seeking nuclear weapons—but with trust at rock-bottom, the Geneva talks are shaping up as a critical test of whether diplomacy can survive the fallout of war.
