Iran has rejected the European Union’s offer to organize direct nuclear talks with the United States, senior diplomats say, risking new tensions between Tehran and Western capitals.
Two high-profile Western diplomats said Iran had ruled out attending a meeting in Europe for the time being, saying it wanted first a guarantee that the United States would lift some sanctions after the meeting.
The United States said it would attend the talks, which the EU hoped to host in the coming days. However, Washington refused to provide relief from sanctions before face-to-face negotiations with Iran took place.
Diplomats said Iran’s rejection did not shatter all hopes of direct negotiations in the coming months and that Tehran’s move could be an attempt to gain momentum in future negotiations. These negotiations may still begin before the Iranian new year in late March.
Still, Iran’s decision is likely to exacerbate tensions in the coming days.
A State Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
At stake are the EU’s efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration withdrew and whose limits Iran subsequently breached. Both the Biden government and Iran say they want to restore the deal, but both sides have been hampered by a debate over which should go first.
As the dispute has escalated, France, the United Kingdom and Germany are working on a resolution they plan to present to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board next week, which would blame Iran for its recent measures to expand its nuclear activities and its lack of cooperation with the agency’s investigation into its nuclear work.
Iran has warned that if the censorship measure goes ahead, it could end an agreement signed earlier this month with the IAEA that would allow most international inspections to continue. Iran had previously said it would significantly reduce inspectors’ access to its nuclear activities, but reduced that measure after IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi visited Tehran.
If Iran goes ahead with this threat, it will greatly reduce international oversight of Iran’s nuclear work, a situation that Grossi said would destroy the agency’s ability to keep the Iranian nuclear program under control.
The Biden government has said it wants to return to the nuclear deal, but will not lift its sanctions on Iran until Tehran reverses the various measures taken to break the 2015 nuclear deal.
European diplomats warned that if Iran stayed out of the talks, which the EU hoped to organize next week, it could leave Tehran more diplomatically isolated. A European diplomat said Iran fears returning home empty-handed after a meeting with the United States, which may have generated a huge reaction in the country.
Write to Laurence Norman at [email protected] and Michael R. Gordon at [email protected]
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