Putin meets Khamenei's top nuke adviser; Iran says Europe has no grounds to trigger sanctions

Putin meets Khamenei's top nuke adviser; Iran says Europe has no grounds to trigger sanctions
by AFP Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) July 20, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a surprise meeting with Ali Larijani, top adviser to Iran's supreme leader on nuclear issues, to discuss Tehran's nuclear programme in the Kremlin on Sunday.

Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran's clerical leadership and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the United States joined Israel's massive bombing campaign on Iran in June.

Larijani "conveyed assessments of the escalating situation in the Middle East and around the Iranian nuclear programme", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the unannounced meeting.

Putin had expressed Russia's "well-known positions on how to stabilize the situation in the region and on the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear programme", he added.

Separately, a German diplomatic source told AFP on Sunday that Britain, France and Germany are planning to hold fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the coming days.

Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the three European countries, citing an unnamed source.

Last week, Russia had slammed a story by US news outlet Axios citing anonymous sources that said Putin had "encouraged" Iran to accept a deal with the United States that would prevent the Islamic republic from enriching uranium.

Iran has consistently denied seeking a nuclear weapon, while defending its "legitimate rights" to the peaceful use of atomic energy.

Iran says Europeans have no grounds to trigger sanctions snapback
Tehran (AFP) July 18, 2025 - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his European counterparts Friday they have no grounds for reactivating UN sanctions after they threatened to do so in coming months unless there is progress in nuclear talks.

"If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snap-back' for which they (have) absolutely no moral (or) legal grounds," Araghchi said on X.

He added that "any new round of talks is only possible when the other side is ready for a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial nuclear deal."

The remarks came after Araghchi held a conference call with his British, French and German counterparts and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

The European diplomats told Araghchi of "their determination to use the 'snapback' mechanism -- which allows for the reimposition of all international sanctions against Iran -- in the absence of concrete progress" towards a new deal on Iran's nuclear programme "by the end of the summer", the French foreign ministry said.

French officials have previously indicated that means by the end of August.

Last month, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that the Europeans would be "justified" in seeking a snapback of UN sanctions lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, later abandoned by US President Donald Trump.

"Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so no later than the end of August," he told reporters.

Last week, Araghchi urged the Europeans to play "a constructive role" on the nuclear issue.

"The threat of sanctions does not help diplomacy," Araghchi told French newspaper Le Monde.

There has been much speculation about the status of Iran's nuclear programme since Israel and and the United States bombed key facilities last month.

A clause in the 2015 agreement allows for UN sanctions on Iran to be reimposed through a snapback mechanism in the event of non-compliance.

But the deal expires in October giving the parties to it a fast looming deadline to invoke the clause.

Iran and the United States held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war on June 13. Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended the talks.

Since the end of the hostilities, both Tehran and Washington have signalled willingness to return to the table, though Tehran has said it will not give up its right to the peaceful use of nuclear power.

An adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in matter of state, said on Monday there would be no new nuclear talks with the United States if they were conditioned on Iran renouncing uranium enrichment.