Diplomats from Britain, France, and Germany, collectively known as the E3, met their Iranian counterparts in Geneva for critical last-minute talks to avert the reimposition of UN sanctions via the 2015 nuclear deal’s “snapback” mechanism. The meeting, announced by Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday, follows a July 25 discussion in Istanbul and comes amid heightened tensions after Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) post a 12-day Iran-Israel war in June 2025, during which US and Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s nuclear sites.

The E3, aligned with the US, set an end-of-August deadline for Iran to resume US negotiations, allow IAEA inspections, and account for over 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity—dangerously close to the 90% weapons-grade threshold. Iran, the only non-nuclear-armed nation enriching uranium at such levels, insists its program is peaceful, despite historical evidence of a weapons program until 2003.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi called the talks “serious, frank, and detailed,” but Iran maintains that snapback sanctions are “completely illegal,” citing the E3’s failure to uphold economic benefits promised under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after the US withdrawal in 2018.

The JCPOA, signed by Iran, the E3, US, China, and Russia, limited Iran’s uranium enrichment to 3.67% purity and 300 kilograms, using basic IR-1 centrifuges, in exchange for sanctions relief. Since 2018, Iran has escalated enrichment, deploying advanced centrifuges in retaliation for renewed US sanctions.

The E3’s threat to trigger snapback, which would reinstate pre-2015 UN sanctions without veto from Russia or China, looms as the October deadline approaches, though they’ve offered an extension if Iran engages with Washington and the IAEA.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has rejected the E3’s authority to extend deadlines, while IAEA chief Rafael Grossi urged transparency from Tehran. With regional tensions escalating and Iran’s economy reeling from sanctions, these talks are a pivotal test of diplomacy.

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