Iran, Britain, France and Germany will hold nuclear talks in Istanbul on Friday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said early on Monday, following warnings by the three European countries that failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.

"The meeting between Iran, Britain, France and Germany will take place at the deputy foreign minister level," Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted by Iranian state media as saying.

The talks scheduled for Friday come after foreign ministers of the E3 nations, as those European countries are known, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief, held their first call on Thursday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iranian nuclear facilities a month ago.

The three European countries (E3) have said they would restore UN sanctions on Tehran via the "snapback mechanism" by the end of August if nuclear talks that were ongoing between Iran and the U.S. before the Israel-Iran air war do not resume or fail to produce concrete results.

On Sunday, Araghchi said in a post on X that E3 should not undermine the credibility of the UN Security Council by triggering the snapback mechanism to reinstate sanctions on Tehran.

"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 lack absolutely moral and legal ground," Araqchi said.

"The E3 must refrain from any action that would only deepen divisions in the Security Council or that would have serious adverse consequences on its work," Araghchi said, noting that Iran is ready for "meaningful diplomacy," but will resist hostile measures.

The snapback mechanism can be used to restore UN sanctions before the UN Security Council resolution enshrining the deal expires on October 18.

Prior to the Israel-Iran war, Tehran and Washington held five rounds of nuclear talks mediated by Oman but faced major stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment in Iran, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimize any risk of weaponization.

Tehran maintains its nuclear program is solely meant for civilian purposes.

(With input from Reuters, Xinhua)

(Cover: A handout photo made available by the Iranian Foreign Ministry shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaking during a meeting with foreign ambassadors and diplomats, Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. /VCG)

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