“Our preference is the path of dialogue and commitment”
“We are firmly committed to defending the interests of our people and our preference is the path of dialogue and engagement,” he wrote. A meeting in a similar format, called “Iran E3” was held in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. But what is at stake in the talks was made clear by Britain’s spy chief during a visit to Paris on Friday morning. Iran’s nuclear ambitions pose a major “security threat” to the world, said Richard Moore.
“Iran’s allied militias in the Middle East (Hamas and Hezbollah) have suffered serious setbacks. But the regime’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten us all,” warned the head of MI6, who spoke alongside his French counterpart, the head of the DGSE Nicolas Lerner. The exchanges via social network, after a first meeting Thursday on the banks of Lake Geneva between Iranian diplomats and the European Union, also gave an idea of the tone of Friday’s meeting.
The number two in European diplomacy, Enrique Mora, spoke on X of a “frank discussion” with Majid Takht-Ravanchi and Kazem Gharibabadi, two deputies of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Round the corners
On the Iranian side, it is argued that Europe has “failed to be a serious player” on the nuclear issue after the return of American sanctions and we are calling on the EU to abandon “irresponsible” behavior, particularly concerning the war in Ukraine and Gaza. Added to the difficult situation of Tehran’s allies is the return to the White House of Donald Trump, architect of a so-called “maximum pressure” policy towards Iran during his first term.
Iran therefore hopes to smooth things over with the Europeans, while showing firmness. In an interview with the British daily The Guardian published Thursday, Kazem Araghchi explained that Iran could acquire nuclear weapons if the Europeans reimposed sanctions. France, Germany and the United Kingdom, associated with the United States, succeeded in having a resolution adopted within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reproaching Iran for its lack of cooperation on nuclear power.
In response, Tehran announced that it wanted to put new “advanced” centrifuges into service, which the IAEA confirmed in a confidential report of which AFP obtained a copy on Friday. The agency, responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, said Tehran wanted to install some 6,000 new centrifuges to enrich uranium at low levels.
A recent surge
“Iran has informed the agency” of its intention to put these machines into service at the Fordo and Natanz sites for an enrichment rate of up to 5%, slightly above the authorized 3.67%. by an international agreement in 2015 but far from the 60% enriched fissile material that Tehran already produces. This “clearly goes in the wrong direction, Iran makes it appear that it is reacting to a resolution of the board of governors (of the IAEA), but in view of the situation we say that the imperative of the moment for Iran should be de-escalation,” a spokesperson for German Foreign Affairs underlined from Berlin. The Iranians defend the right to nuclear power for civilian purposes and deny wanting to acquire atomic weapons, something of which the West strongly suspects them.
In this context, Kazem Araghchi showed “pessimism” about the outcome of the Geneva discussions, according to the British daily. In 2015, Iran concluded an agreement in Vienna with France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the United States to regulate its nuclear program. In return, the text provided for a reduction in international sanctions against Tehran.
But in 2018, Donald Trump, who became President of the United States, unilaterally withdrew his country from the agreement – with which Tehran complied, according to the IAEA – and reestablished heavy sanctions against Iran. In retaliation, Tehran significantly increased its reserves of enriched uranium and increased the level of enrichment to 60%, close to the 90% necessary to produce an atomic weapon.
