Iranian, European officials to meet in Vienna as sanctions reimposition looms

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is set to meet with officials from Britain, France, and Germany, the so-called E3—in Vienna, as reported by Iran's state-run Nournews agency on Sunday.

This comes as international sanctions on Tehran, imposed over its nuclear programme, are due to be reinstated at the end of this month.

The agency stated that the trip will involve mutual discussions and a review of issues related to Iranian-European relations, although it did not specify the date of the talks.

In an effort to prevent the reimposition of sanctions, Iranian and European ministers held discussions last week. However, the talks reportedly did not result in any major breakthroughs, according to two European diplomats and one Iranian diplomat.

At the end of August, the E3 initiated a 30-day process to reinstate UN sanctions, setting conditions for Tehran to meet throughout September in order to delay the "snapback mechanism."

The European trio has proposed a conditional six-month delay in reimposing sanctions, contingent on Iran allowing access to United Nations nuclear inspectors to verify and account for the country’s large stockpile of enriched uranium. Furthermore, Iran is expected to enter into negotiations with the United States.

The status of Iran's enriched uranium reserves has remained unclear since June, following the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites by Israel and the United States.

The West claims Iran's nuclear programme has moved beyond civilian needs, while Tehran maintains that it seeks nuclear energy solely for peaceful purposes.

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