Europe and Iran negotiate sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme under pressure

Europe and Iran have resumed negotiations in Geneva on sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme, which ends in October 2025, despite the death of the most important scientists in the Iranian nuclear programme during the American and Israeli bombings last June and the damage to the Islamic Republic's uranium enrichment capacity. 

According to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, Iran seeks to prevent its programme from being sanctioned by Europe and the United States. ‘Our only goal is to avoid measures that could undermine our country's development and potential,’ Baghaei said.

In this context, a delegation of Iranian diplomats travelled to Geneva to meet with their counterparts from France, the United Kingdom and Germany to negotiate new, less severe conditions for Iranian development. One of the regime's main fears is that the possible imposition of new sanctions could damage the Iranian economy and mobilise Iranian public opinion.

Among the European bloc's requests is that Iranian scientists allow members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect the facilities that were targeted in the attacks to assess the status of the programme and how they may have been affected. However, Iran has refused claiming that the facilities are unsafe due to high levels of radiation.

These reasons are not sufficient for the European Union, as the European bloc believes that Iran is delaying negotiations because it is waiting for Russia to assume the presidency of the UN Security Council in September. Europe believes that Putin's possible arrival on the Security Council will extend Resolution 2231 for another six months.

However, the IAEA, the United States and the European Union itself suspect that Iran's nuclear programme may have survived the American bombings. These attacks were carried out on the suspicion that Iran was close to obtaining enough 90% enriched uranium to develop six nuclear bombs. Although the figures cannot be confirmed, it is true that Tehran possessed enough 60% uranium to be able to take the step towards developing such a weapon. 

Iran insists that the country's nuclear facilities need to be restored because, although they do not confirm the status of their nuclear programme, they do point out that the bombings destroyed much of the infrastructure. In this regard, Iran has requested assistance in agreeing on a new plan due to this damage. 

However, the West does not believe Iran to be a reliable partner, among other things because it is unwilling to reveal the location of its largest reserves of enriched uranium. In view of this, the IAEA, pending the conclusion of talks between Iran and Europe, has stated that it ‘has no guarantees that Iran will not backtrack and continue its enrichment programme with the aim of developing a nuclear bomb’. Iran has always denied this, arguing that its programme is solely for civilian purposes.