Iran said it was making every effort to prevent a sanctions snapback. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Iran said on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) it was making every effort to prevent a sanctions snapback, which European powers have threatened to impose under the moribund 2015 nuclear deal.

“Our focus is on preventing actions or incidents that may be costly for the country,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press conference.

He added that Tehran was “negotiating with all our might” ahead of planned talks with Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday in Geneva.

It will be the second round of talks between Iranian and European diplomats since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel that broke out in mid-June.

The war, triggered by an unprecedented Israeli surprise attack, derailed Tehran’s nuclear negotiations with the United States and prompted Iran to suspend cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

The European trio — parties to the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal — have threatened to trigger the accord’s “snapback mechanism” by the end of August.

The move would reimpose sweeping UN sanctions lifted under the agreement unless Iran agreed to curb its uranium enrichment and restore cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.

Iran insists the European powers “do not have the legal and moral” grounds to trigger a snapback “We will not allow this issue to become a tool of psychological warfare against… our citizens,” said Mr. Baqaei.

The window for activating the mechanism closes in October — after which the UN sanctions would be permanently removed — but according to the Financial Times, the Europeans have suggested pushing back that deadline.

Iran has dismissed the Europeans’ right to extend the deadline, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently said Tehran was working with its allies China and Russia to prevent the reimposition of sanctions.

The nuclear deal was torpedoed in 2018 when Donald Trump, during his first term as president, unilaterally withdrew the United States and slapped crippling sanctions on Iran.

Just before the recent war with Israel, Iran held five rounds of talks with the United States with the aim of reaching a new deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Israel’s offensive killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of others, striking both military facilities and residential areas.

Iran responded with ballistic missile barrages targeting Israeli cities. The war also saw the United States carry out strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24.

READ MORE

Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear programme if Western countries show they are “serious”. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear programme if Western countries show they are “serious”, the Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying in an interview published on Thursday (January 30, 2025).

“We have said several times that we are ready for discussions, but only if the other side is serious about this,” Esmaeil Baqaei told the government daily Iran.

Tehran has signalled to the West several times recently indicating a willingness to reach an agreement over its nuclear programme.

In an interview with Sky News posted to his official Telegram channel on Tuesday (January 28), Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the new U.S. administration should work to win back Tehran’s trust if it wants a new round of nuclear talks.

In Thursday’s interview, Mr. Baqaei expressed hope that new U.S. President Donald Trump would adopt a “realistic approach” towards Iran.

During his first term that ended in 2021, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure”, withdrawing the United States from a landmark nuclear deal which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

Asked about the possibility of new talks, Baqaei was quoted on Thursday as saying Iran’s policy would depend on “the actions of the other parties”.

Tehran adhered to the deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — until a year after Washington’s withdrawal in 2018, but then began rolling back its commitments.

Efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear pact have since faltered.

Iran has repeatedly expressed willingness to revive the nuclear deal, and President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office last July, has called for an end to his country’s isolation.

Before Trump’s return to the White House, Iranian officials held nuclear talks with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany that both sides described as “frank and constructive”.

In December, the three Western governments accused Tehran of growing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to “unprecedented levels” without “any credible civilian justification” and discussed the possible reimposition of sanctions.

On Thursday, Baqaei warned that if this happened, Iran’s adherence to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty “would no longer have any meaning”.

Under the NPT, signatory states are obliged to declare their nuclear stockpiles and place them under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.