Iranian official denies reported meeting with European officials

DUBAI – An Iranian official denied a state media report on Sept 21 that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was to meet officials from Britain, France and Germany in Vienna as sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme loom again.

Nournews had reported the talks, without giving a date.

But an Iranian Foreign Ministry official told Reuters that was not the case, with Mr Araqchi heading to New York, not Vienna.

In a bid to avert the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran, Iranian and European ministers engaged in discussions last week but they did not yield breakthroughs, diplomats said.

The three European nations launched a 30-day process at the end of August to reimpose UN sanctions. They set conditions for Tehran to meet during September to convince them to delay the so-called “snapback mechanism”.

The European trio has proposed a conditional delay of up to six months on the reimposition of sanctions on Iran. This is contingent upon Iran granting access to UN inspectors, who aim to verify and account for the substantial stockpile of enriched uranium.

Additionally, Iran is expected to engage in negotiations with the United States.

The status of Iran’s enriched uranium reserves has remained uncertain since June, following the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites by Israel and the US.

The West says the advancement of Iran’s nuclear programme goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran says it wants nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes. REUTERS