Iran to hold nuclear talks with France, UK and Germany on January 13: Report | News about nuclear power
The next round of talks with European powers will take place a week before Trump’s return to the White House.
The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and France, the United Kingdom and Germany will be held in Geneva in January, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported, citing the country’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi.
“A new round of negotiations between Iran and three European countries will be held in Geneva on January 13,” Gharibabadi said on Wednesday.
Iran held talks with three European powers about their disputed nuclear program in November. The discussions, the first since the US presidential election, came after Tehran was angered by a European-backed resolution accusing Iran of poor cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Tehran reacted to the resolution by informing IAEA custodian that it plans to install more uranium enrichment centrifuges at its enrichment facilities.
On December 17, three European countries accused Iran of increasing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to “unprecedented levels” without “any credible civilian justification”. They also raised the possibility of renewing sanctions against Iran to prevent it from developing its nuclear program.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the Reuters news agency in December that Iran was “dramatically” accelerating its uranium enrichment to 60 percent purity, which is closer to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level.
Tehran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and has consistently denied any ambition to develop a nuclear weapons capability.
In 2015, Iran reached an agreement with world powers, including the US, to curb its nuclear program amid concerns that the country was potentially developing nuclear weapons.
But in 2018, the then administration of Donald Trump came out of Iran The 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact’s nuclear restrictions, with moves such as rebuilding its stockpile of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fission purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up production.
Indirect talks between the administration of US President Joe Biden and Tehran in an attempt to revive the pact have failed, but Trump said during his election campaign in September: “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to come to an agreement.”
The January 13 talks will take place a week before Trump returns to the White House.
