Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with Europeans This Friday

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, announced that Tehran and the European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal will hold the fourth round of talks on the revival of the pact on May 16.

Baghaei said on Wednesday that the meeting will be held at the level of political directors of foreign ministries in Istanbul, Turkey.

The main agenda of the meeting is to continue consultations with Germany, the UK, and France, particularly regarding the indirect Iran-US negotiations.

Iran and the European troika have held three rounds of negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear file so far.

Previously, it was planned that a new round of talks between Iran and Europe would be held in Rome on April 30, before the fourth round of Iran-US negotiations.

However, due to the postponement of that round, the meeting with Europe was also delayed.

Friday’s meeting follows the fourth round of Oman-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington on Sunday.

The 2015 deal includes a so-called "snapback" mechanism, which parties can trigger to automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance.

That option expires in October, but some European officials have threatened to activate the mechanism.

Iran has repeatedly warned that activating the snapback mechanism would have severe consequences.