Iran ups N-talks with E3, proposes resolution at IAEA

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a joint telephone conversation with his counterparts from France, Germany and the UK as well as the EU foreign policy chief as Iran and Europe are at loggerheads over the future of sanctions against Tehran’s nuclear program.

The conversation took place while Iran has proposed a draft resolution at the annual General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna calling for prohibition of attacks on the nuclear facilities under the UN safeguards.

“We hope that through these talks and calls, both today and in the calls that will likely take place in the coming days, all parties will reach the conclusion that escalating tensions and exploiting the current situation will not benefit anyone in any way,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a weekly news conference on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Araghchi and the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot discussed on phone the move by the European troika referring their dispute with Tehran to the Security Council demanding the re-imposition or “snapback” of the UN sanctions on Tehran’ nuclear program.

Arachghi told Barrot that activation of the snapback mechanism by the European troika countries is “devoid of any political and legal significance”, and is aimed at “increasing the tension and crisis”, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

“Our foreign minister once again emphasized the purely peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, and recalling the recent agreement between Iran and the IAEA, said that Iran has always considered diplomacy to be the only way to resolve international issues, including our country's nuclear program, and is ready for any fair and balanced solution that ensures mutual benefits.”

Tehran’s top diplomat was referring to the framework deal with the IAEA signed in Egypt last week regarding a new modality of bilateral cooperation including inspections in the wake of attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites by Israel and US last June.

He has warned that validity of the Cairo agreement is conditional on “no hostile action” against Iran, including re-imposition of UN sanctions, otherwise Tehran would regard the document as “terminated”.

Iran has slammed the three European powers which are parties to the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) and have demanded return of nuclear sanctions if they cannot reach an agreement in September with Iran before the UNSC Resolution 2231 expires in October.

“We have not accepted the European troika’s conditions,” Araghchi was quoted saying earlier this week about the E3’s demands including resumption of inspections, the highly-enriched uranium, and renewed nuclear talks with the US.

China and Russia which are also the JCPOA signatories and the UNSC permanent member states have proposed a counter resolution to extend exemption of Iran’s nuclear sanctions and reach an agreement on its nuclear program meanwhile.

In the meantime, Iran has tabled a draft resolution to be discussed by the ongoing IAEA General Conference on the prohibition of attacks against nuclear sites under the UN watchdog’s safeguards.

According to a Foreign Ministry press release, Iran, along with China, Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Belarus, have submitted the draft resolution in a bid to uphold the integrity of the UN Charter, IAEA Statute, and the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said the United States has threatened the UN nuclear watchdog of cutting off its financial support if the draft resolution is passed.

“Unfortunately, in the first step, the Americans tried to carry out a confrontation accompanied by threats directed at other countries,” the spokesman said after arriving in the Austrian capital to participate in the IAEA’s 69th General Conference.

The draft resolution was proposed after Iran’s major civilian nuclear facilities were severely damaged in airstrikes by Israel and US during the 12-day war in June.

Iran retaliated by ceasing its mediated nuclear negotiations with the United States and suspended cooperation with the IAEA citing its failure to condemn the attacks including the inspection, and criticizing the agency for a resolution on its non-compliance which Tehran said served as pretext to bomb its nuclear facilities.

Iran’s envoy to International Organizations in Vienna Raza Najafi said the General Conference will discuss the draft resolution on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning expressing the hope that independent countries will support it.

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