TEHRAN, MAY 14 (AFP/APP): Iran’s top diplomat said Wednesday a new round of talks on his country’s nuclear programme with Britain, France and Germany was likely to be held in Turkey later this week.
“The next round, at the level of deputy foreign ministers, I think, is scheduled to be held in Istanbul on Friday,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran.
French diplomatic sources also told AFP the meeting would take place in the Turkish city on Friday, adding it would be held at the level of political directors.
There was still no word from London or Berlin on the meeting, which was originally slated for earlier this month but postponed.
Iran has held several discreet meetings on the nuclear issue with the three European nations since late last year — most recently in February in Geneva — ahead of indirect negotiations with Washington that began on April 12.
“While we continue the dialogue with the United States, we are also ready to talk with the Europeans,” Araghchi said.
“Unfortunately, the Europeans themselves have become somewhat isolated in these negotiations with their own policies,” he added, without elaborating.
“We do not want such a situation and that’s why we have continued our negotiations” with them, he said.
Friday’s expected meeting follows a round of Oman-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington on Sunday.
The four rounds of US-Iran talks were the highest-level contact in years between the long-time foes, since US President Donald Trump in 2018 abandoned the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.
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