- The parties agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue in the future: German Foreign Minister.
- Iran's vice foreign minister says he describes Friday's discussions as “sincere.”
- Tehran hopes to improve relations with Europe amid nuclear talks.
GENEVA: Iran, Britain, France and Germany agreed to continue diplomatic talks after a low-key meeting on Friday over Tehran's nuclear program, amid rising tensions even before Donald Trump's return to the White House.
After talks in Geneva, shrouded in an unusual level of secrecy, the sides took to social media to say discussions had focused on Iran's nuclear program and sanctions, and other regional issues.
The parties “agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue in the near future,” the German Foreign Ministry and senior diplomats representing France, Britain and Iran said separately in X.
Providing a bit more detail, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, described Friday's discussions as “sincere.”
“Our preference is the path of dialogue and compromise,” he wrote.
The stakes were laid bare in a warning from Britain's foreign intelligence chief that Iran's nuclear ambitions posed a major threat to global security, despite its weakened position after setbacks to its Islamist allies. Hamas and Hezbollah in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
“Iran's allied militias across the Middle East have suffered serious blows,” Secret Intelligence Service chief Richard Moore said in a speech in Paris. “But the regime's nuclear ambitions continue to threaten us all.”
shadow of trump
Friday's meeting took place against the backdrop of extreme tension in the Middle East between Israel and Iran and its allies.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel would do “everything possible” to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The West's accusation that Iran is supplying Russia with explosive drones for its war in Ukraine also clouded the backdrop of Friday's talks.
And on January 20, Trump, who pursued a “maximum pressure” policy against Iran during his first term as US president, returns to the White House.
Iran hopes to improve relations with Europe, while maintaining a firm stance.
In an interview with the guardian In a newspaper published Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that frustration in Tehran over unmet commitments, such as lifting sanctions, was fueling debate over whether the country should alter its nuclear policy.
Friday's talks were presaged by European countries partnering with the United States to have the U.N. atomic watchdog censure Iran for its lack of cooperation on nuclear issues.
The rebuke from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) prompted a defiant response from Iran, which criticized the move as “politically motivated” and responded by announcing the launch of “new advanced centrifuges” designed to boost its stockpile of enriched uranium.
This is “clearly going in the wrong direction,” a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson told reporters on Friday.
“Iran's imperative right now should be de-escalation.”
'Double disaster'
Iran insists on its right to peaceful nuclear energy and has consistently denied any ambition to develop weapons capabilities.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final decision-making authority in Iran, has issued a religious decree, or fatwa, banning atomic weapons.
But according to the IAEA, it is the only non-nuclear weapon state that enriches uranium to 60 percent purity.
The IAEA said in a report that Iran planned to install 6,000 new centrifuges at its sites in Fordo and Natanz, aiming to achieve enrichment of up to five percent.
While it is much lower than the current levels at which it is being enriched, it is higher than the 3.67 percent limit that Tehran had agreed to in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
That agreement between Tehran and major powers was aimed at relieving Iran of crippling Western sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear program to prevent it from developing weapons capabilities.
Tehran adhered to the deal, but in 2018, during Trump's first presidency, Washington unilaterally withdrew from the deal and reimposed heavy sanctions on Iran.
For Tehran, the goal of Friday's talks was to avoid a “double disaster” scenario of fresh pressure from both Trump and European governments, according to political analyst Mostafa Shirmohammadi.
