Iran displays the utmost indifference in front of them. However, by wielding the threat of massive sanctions, French diplomats believe they and their German and British partners in the E3 group hold a trump card, a lever capable of steering Tehran back toward oversight of its nuclear program. Since the “12-Day War,” during which Israel, with US support, attempted to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities between June 13 and 25, the Islamic Republic has expelled International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors and threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
To bring Tehran back in line, the Europeans are betting on diplomacy. A meeting was set for Friday, July 25, in Istanbul, Turkey, between Western E3 envoys and representatives of the Iranian regime. This is an “important” but not “decisive” first step, according to Kazem Gharibabadi, Tehran’s nuclear negotiator, who spoke on Wednesday to a handful of media outlets, including American news website Axios. According to James Acton, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, simply agreeing to meet again would be a step forward.
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