Iran, European powers hold ‘constructive’ nuclear talks

Iran and European powers said they held “frank and constructive” talks on Monday about Tehran’s nuclear programme, just a week before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

It was the second round of such talks in less than two months, following a discreet meeting in Geneva last November between Tehran and the three European powers, Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3.

Few details were revealed about the topics discussed Monday or even the venue of the talks, but both sides said they were “constructive” and that the parties agreed to carry them on.

Iran’s ISNA news agency reported that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi met “his counterparts from the E3”.

“They discussed issues of mutual interest, including negotiations for lifting sanctions, the nuclear issue and the worrying situation in the region,” it added without elaborating.

Later, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi described the talks as “serious, frank, and constructive”.

“We discussed ideas involving certain details in the sanctions-lifting and nuclear fields that are needed for a deal,” he said in a post on X.

“Sides concurred that negotiations should be resumed and to reach a deal, all parties should create and maintain the appropriate atmosphere. We agreed to continue our dialogue,” he added.

British, French and German foreign affairs representatives afterwards called the talks “serious, frank and constructive”.

“Against a challenging context, we discussed concerns and reiterated our commitment to a diplomatic solution. We agreed to continue our dialogue,” they said in a statement posted on their X accounts.

Before the meeting, the German foreign ministry told AFP that the talks were “not negotiations” while Iran said they were merely “consultations”.

The talks, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, will cover a “wide range of topics,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said during a weekly press briefing.

“The primary objective of these talks is to remove the sanctions” on Iran, he noted, adding that Iran was also “listening to the topics that the opposite parties want to raise”.

ISNA reported that Takht-Ravanchi will meet on Tuesday separately with the European Union diplomat Enrique Mora in Geneva.