Iran, France signal readiness for nuclear talks amid US negotiations

By Parisa Hafezi and John Irish

DUBAI/PARIS (Reuters) -Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday he was ready to travel to Europe for talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, with France indicating European powers were also ready for dialogue if Tehran showed it was seriously engaged.

Iran is looking to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the United States that resume in Oman on Saturday and after talks with Russia and China earlier this week. Its reach out to the European powers party to a 2015 nuclear deal suggests Tehran is keeping its options open.

Since September, Tehran and the three European powers, known as the E3, have already held several rounds of discussions over their ties and the nuclear issue.

The most recent in March were held at technical level, looking at the parameters of a future deal to secure a rollback of the nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.

European diplomats had said they were seeking a new meeting with Iran, although that appeared on ice when Tehran began indirect talks on its nuclear programme with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration earlier this month.

Trump, who abandoned the 2015 pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

The third round of talks is due to be held on Saturday in Oman.

"Iran's relations with the E3 ... have experienced ups and downs in recent history. Like it or not, they are currently down," Araqchi wrote on X.

"I once again propose diplomacy. After my recent consultations in Moscow & Beijing, I am ready to take the first step with visits to Paris, Berlin & London ... The ball is now in the E3's court."

The European powers, who have voiced concern about their coordination with Washington, have seen their ties with Iran worsen over other issues including its ballistic missile programme, detention of foreign citizens and support for Russia in the war in Ukraine.

THREAT OF RENEWED SANCTIONS

When asked about Araqchi's comments, France's foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said the E3 favoured dialogue, but wanted to see how serious Iran was.

"The only solution is a diplomatic solution and Iran must resolutely engage in this path and it's a proposal the E3 have put forward many times, so we will continue dialogue with the Iranians," he told a news conference.

The United States did not tell European countries about the nuclear talks in Oman before Trump announced them, even though they hold a key card on the possible reimposition of U.N. sanctions on Tehran.

However, according to two European diplomats, the U.S. lead technical negotiator Michael Anton briefed E3 diplomats in Paris on April 17, suggesting that coordination has improved.

The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which it denies. The threat of renewed sanctions is intended to pressure Tehran into concessions, making detailed discussions on strategy between the Americans and Europeans vital, diplomats say.

Because the United States quit the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, it cannot initiate its mechanism for reimposing sanctions, called snapback, at the United Nations Security Council.

That makes Britain, Germany and France, known as the E3, the only deal participants capable of and interested in pursuing snapback.

According to diplomats, the E3 diplomats are now looking to trigger snapback by August as opposed to an earlier June timeframe, if no substantial deal can be found by then. That opportunity expires on October 18 when the 2015 accord ends.

(Reporting by Elwely Elwelly; Editing by Andrew Heavens, William Maclean)