TEHRAN: Iran has no plans to abandon its nuclear programme, including uranium enrichment, despite the “severe” damage caused by US strikes to its facilities, the country’s foreign minister said ahead of renewed talks with European powers.
Iran is scheduled to meet the United Kingdom, France and Germany in Istanbul on Friday to discuss its nuclear programme, with Tehran accusing European powers of scuppering a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.
The meeting will be the first since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel last month, during which the United States carried out strikes against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
For now, enrichment “is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News on Monday.
The 2015 agreement, reached between Iran and UN Security Council permanent members the UK, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
However, it unravelled in 2018 when the US, during Trump’s first term, unilaterally withdrew and reimposed sweeping sanctions.
Although Europe pledged continued support, a mechanism intended to offset US sanctions never effectively materialised, forcing many Western firms to exit Iran, deepening its economic crisis.
“Iran holds the European parties responsible for negligence in implementing the agreement,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei ahead of Friday’s talks in Istanbul.
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