TEHRAN: According to a foreign ministry source quoted by local media on Wednesday, Iran will hold nuclear negotiations with France, Britain, and Germany in Switzerland on January 13.
According to ISNA news agency, Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, stated that the next round of negotiations between Iran and three European nations would take place in Geneva on January 13.
The discussions were merely “consultations, not negotiations,” he noted. On December 17, the three European nations accused Iran of increasing its high-enriched uranium stockpile to “unprecedented levels” without “any credible civilian justification.”
In order to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear program, they also brought up the prospect of reimposing sanctions on the country.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s senior diplomat, declared that his nation was “prepared for fair and honorable negotiations” with the West. He was cited by the Tasnim news agency on Wednesday as saying, “In exchange (for the lifting of sanctions), we create more confidence in the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program.”
The foreign minister continued, “It is natural for us to follow our own path if the other party does not like this path, as we have done in recent years.”
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a nuclear watchdog, Iran has boosted its production of enriched uranium in recent years, making it the only non-nuclear weapons state with 60% enriched uranium. That amount is quite close to the 90 pc needed for an atomic weapon.
In November 2024, Iran had discussions with Britain, France, and Germany on its contentious nuclear program.
Tehran was incensed by a resolution supported by Europe that charged Iran with inadequate cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, prompting those talks, the first since the US election.
Iran has continuously rejected any desire to develop nuclear weapons capabilities and maintains its sovereignty to nuclear energy for peaceful uses. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who has the last word in all affairs of state, has long issued a fatwa, or religious decree, that forbids the use of atomic weapons.
