Tehran, Sep 5 Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and the European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas have discussed the latest developments regarding Tehran's nuclear issue, after France, Britain, and Germany moved to trigger a mechanism to reinstate international sanctions on Iran, Iran's Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
At a meeting in the Qatari capital Doha Thursday evening, Araghchi and Kallas also exchanged views on Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to a statement released by the ministry, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Araghchi described as "unlawful and unjustified" the move by Britain, France and Germany, collectively known as the E3, late last month to trigger the "snapback" mechanism to prepare the ground for the reinstatement of the lifted United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran. He reminded Kallas of her "important" responsibility as the coordinator of the joint commission of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Iran and world powers.
Araghchi pointed to Iran's constant commitment to the path of diplomacy, reaffirming the country's "seriousness and steadfastness" in pursuing that course.
Kallas, for her part, said diplomacy and negotiation were the only ways to remove all parties' concerns, highlighting the need to give diplomacy more chance.
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the two sides also agreed to continue bilateral consultations in the coming weeks.
In an interview with state broadcaster IRIB, Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations based in Vienna, said Iran would hold a new round of talks on the "new form of cooperation" with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the Austrian capital on Friday.
Iran suspended its cooperation with the IAEA after the Israeli-U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities and the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists in June.
Iran signed the JCPOA with six major countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States -- in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
The United States, however, withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reinstated sanctions, prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments.
The "snapback" mechanism, part of the JCPOA, allows the other signatories to reimpose international sanctions if Iran fails to comply with the deal.
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