Europeans meet with Iranian officials face-to-face for first time since Israel, US bombings as sanctions loom

European diplomats met with Iranians on Friday face-to-face for the first time since Israel and the U.S. bombed the country last month. 

The “serious, frank and detailed” meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, lasted for around four hours and the officials all agreed to meet again for continued negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. 

Sanctions that were lifted on Iran in 2015 after it agreed to restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program could be reimposed if Iran doesn’t comply with requirements. 

One of Europe’s E3 nations – Britain, France and Germany, who held the talks with Iran – could bring back sanctions under the “snapback” mechanism, which allows one of the European countries to bring back U.N. sanctions if Iran violates the conditions. 

IRAN SEEKS CHINA, RUSSIA HELP TO STALL UN SANCTIONS AHEAD OF NUCLEAR TALKS WITH EUROPEANS

European leaders have also said that sanctions will start being reinstated by the end of August if there is no progress on reining in Iran’s nuclear program. 

“A possible delay in triggering snapback has been floated to the Iranians on the condition that there is credible diplomatic engagement by Iran, that they resume full cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and that they address concerns about their highly-enriched uranium stockpile,” a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity before the talks on Friday. 

The diplomat added that the snapback mechanism “remains on the table.” 

IRAN VOWS RETALIATION IF UN SECURITY COUNCIL ISSUES SNAPBACK SANCTIONS ON ANNIVERSARY OF NUCLEAR DEAL

Iran said that the U.S. needs to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal – after President Trump pulled America out of it in 2018 – saying Iran has “absolutely no trust in the United States.”

The U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22, a little over a week after Israel had bombed the country over national security concerns about its nuclear program. 

Iran responded by attacking Israel and a U.S. Army base in Qatar. 

Isreal and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on June 24. 

The IAEA issued a concerning report in May that said that Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium had grown by nearly 50% in three months. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.