IRANIAN Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his French, German and British counterparts today to avoid the reimposition of United Nations sanctions over Tehrans nuclear programme.

The call came after the three countries threatened to invoke the “snapback” provision of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by the end of this month, allowing any party to reimpose sanctions if they find Iran is failing to comply with requirements such as international monitoring of its nuclear programme.

The Europeans’ concern over the Iranian programme, which had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels before its atomic sites were bombed the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, has grown since Tehran responded to the attacks by cutting off all co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

Iran has accused the IAEA of passing information to Israel which allowed it to target nuclear sites and kill scientists and academics. 

Iran has long insisted that its programme is for peaceful purposes only.

After the call, a statement released on Mr Araghchi’s behalf said he criticised the European countries’ “legal and moral qualifications” to threaten to reinstate the sanctions, but he insisted that talks would continue.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, just as it acts authoritatively in self-defence, has never abandoned the path of diplomacy and is ready for any diplomatic solution that guarantees the rights and interests of the Iranian people,” the statement said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed on the social media platform X that the talks had taken place and said another round of discussions would happen next week.

“We have just made an important call to our Iranian counterpart regarding the nuclear programme and the sanctions against Iran that we are preparing to reapply,” he said. “Time is running out.”

That was echoed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who said “time is very short.”

“Iran needs to engage substantively in order to avoid the activation of snapback,” he wrote on X. 

“We have been clear that we will not let the snapback of sanctions expire unless there is a verifiable and durable deal.”

Meanwhile, IAEA officials in Vienna were due to meet with Iranian officials, a diplomatic source close to the agency told reporters. 

Those talks would be a continuation of a discussion held during an August 11 visit to Tehran by Massimo Aparo, a deputy to Mr Grossi, the diplomat added. 

Iranian television also acknowledged that the meeting would happen.