TEHRAN, Sept 8 — The Iranian government has decided to resume talks with the United States (US) on its nuclear programme for the first time since the war with Israel, according to the German Press Agency (dpa), citing a report on Monday.
The decision was made on Sunday, the Farikhtegan newspaper reported. There has been no official confirmation from the government so far.
According to the report, at the start of negotiations, a request will be submitted to postpone the activation of the so-called snapback mechanism initiated by European countries to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.
Israel attacked Iran in June to prevent the country from building a nuclear bomb. A week later the US joined the war and bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities. The West has accused Iran for years that it seeks nuclear weapons, which Iran denies.
Before the war, the US had negotiated with Tehran for almost two months over Iran's nuclear programme — without a breakthrough.
Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have since increased pressure on Iran to resume negotiations by activating a sanctions mechanism.
The snapback mechanism is a legal provision designed to automatically reinstate United Nations sanctions on Iran if it fails to meet its commitments under the Vienna nuclear deal, dating back to 2015.
The agreement, also signed by the US, China, and Russia, was aimed at restricting Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions.
In 2018, Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal during his first term in office. Iran, therefore, considers the reintroduction of the sanctions under the mechanism to be illegal.
