Iran to meet allies on nuclear tensions
Iran, Russia and China will meet to discuss Tehran's nuclear program and the risk of sanctions being reimposed under the United Nations' snapback mechanism, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, have warned they would use the mechanism, which would reimpose international sanctions on the Islamic Republic, if there was no progress on nuclear talks by the end of August.
Speaking Baghaei said there were currently no plans to resume nuclear talks with the United States, with whom Tehran held five rounds of indirect negotiations prior to Israel's strikes on Iran last month.
Iran's deputy foreign ministers will hold nuclear talks with the E3 and European Union diplomats on Friday in Istanbul, Baghaei said, adding that Tehran would also "seek answers" because the countries did not condemn the Israeli and U.S. strikes.
The three European powers, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program. The U.S. withdrew from the pact in 2018.
The meeting between Iran, China and Russia will take place in Tehran at the level of foreign ministry director generals.
Ali Larijani in his capacity as presidential envoy, held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss issues such as Iran's controversial nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the recent Israel-Iran war in which Washington bombed Iran's nuclear facilities.
"It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up on enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride," the foreign minister told the Fox News show.
