Iran works to ease tensions surrounding its nuclear programme
The Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking to ease tensions surrounding its nuclear programme.
Iran and the United States are signalling a possible easing of nuclear tensions, but time is passing and there is still no agreement on Iran's atomic programme.
Analysts believe that Tehran is eager to reach an agreement with the West that will ease the sanctions that have severely damaged its economy, but it needs a way out of the confrontation that will allow it to save face.
Easing of nuclear tensions
Tehran and Washington signalled on Wednesday a possible easing of nuclear tensions, with Iran insisting it has no ambitions to build nuclear weapons and the United States expressing its willingness to resume talks aimed at resolving the long-running standoff.
Hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly that Iran would never seek to build a nuclear bomb, US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said: "We have no desire to harm them.
‘We are talking to them. And why wouldn't we? We talk to everyone. And rightly so. That's our job. Our job is to solve problems,’ he said at the summit in New York.
Nuclear talks
Before a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks, but faced major obstacles, such as uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, which Western powers want to reduce to zero to minimise any risk of militarisation.
Tehran accuses Washington of ‘betraying diplomacy’ and nuclear talks have been stalled since the war.
An Iranian source told Reuters that ‘several messages have been sent to Washington in recent weeks to resume talks through mediators, but the Americans have not responded.’
On Tuesday, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on key state matters such as foreign policy and Iran's nuclear programme, ruled out negotiations with the United States under threat, but reiterated that Iran is not interested in building an atomic bomb.
Analysts believe Tehran is eager to reach an agreement with the West that would ease sanctions that have severely damaged its economy, but needs a way out of the standoff that allows it to save face.
The United States, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme as a pretext to try to develop the capacity to produce weapons. Iran claims its nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
On 28 August, Britain, France and Germany began a 30-day process to reimpose UN sanctions, known as snapback, which ends on 27 September, accusing Tehran of failing to comply with a 2015 agreement with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.
The European powers have offered to delay the reimposition of sanctions for up to six months to allow room for talks on a long-term agreement if Iran restores access for UN nuclear inspectors, addresses concerns about its stockpiles of enriched uranium and enters into talks with the United States.
‘However, I think we want to reach a permanent solution and negotiate around the snapback sanctions, and if we can't, then the snapback sanctions will remain as they are. They are the right medicine for what is happening,’ Witkoff said.
But amid the looming threat of sanctions and last-minute talks between Tehran and European powers to reach an agreement to avoid the resumption of sanctions, diplomats have warned that the chances of success remain slim.
After meeting with his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron said Iran still had a chance to avoid the reimposition of international sanctions, adding that Tehran had offered nothing tangible.
‘It is still possible to reach an agreement. There are few hours left. It is up to Iran to meet the legitimate conditions we have set,’ Macron posted on X.
Two European diplomats told Reuters that Iran, the E3 and the EU held a new round of talks on Wednesday.
If Tehran and the E3 fail to agree on an extension by the end of 27 September, then all UN sanctions will be reimposed on Iran, whose economy is already struggling with crippling sanctions reimposed since 2018 after Trump abandoned the pact during his first term.
Under snapback, measures imposed on Iran by the Security Council in six resolutions between 2006 and 2010 will be reinstated. These include an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on launches and other activities involving ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons, as well as the transfer of ballistic missile technology and technical assistance. They also include a global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities, as well as authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargo for prohibited goods.