Araghchi to Hold Crucial Call with E3 on Sanctions, Nuclear Site Attacks

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will hold a joint telephone discussion on Friday with his counterparts from Britain, France, and Germany to address the lifting of sanctions and the international response to recent military attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, according to an announcement from Tehran. The high-stakes diplomatic engagement comes in the wake of a devastating 12-day air war with Israel and the United States that has pushed regional tensions to a critical point and left the future of nuclear diplomacy hanging in the balance.

In a statement to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei confirmed the upcoming call with the European Troika, or E3.

Baqaei told IRNA that the top diplomat would discuss the lifting of what Iran terms "unlawful sanctions." The spokesperson added that the discussions will also pointedly cover the need for the involved parties to respond to what Tehran describes as "criminal attacks against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities," a direct reference to the recent conflict that saw key Iranian sites bombed.

This diplomatic outreach follows a period of intense military conflict and escalating nuclear tensions that began months earlier. In early June, ahead of a pivotal International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting, Foreign Minister Araghchi had already issued a sharp warning to the E3 over what he described as “false accusations” regarding Iran’s nuclear activities. The comments came as the United States and its European allies were preparing a formal resolution against Iran, which, if passed, would have been the first time in nearly two decades that the IAEA formally declared Iran in non-compliance with its non-proliferation obligations.

The tensions were fueled by two detailed IAEA reports which indicated that Iran was believed to have conducted undeclared nuclear activities at three sites—Lavisan-Shian, Varamin, and Marivan—and that its stockpile of highly enriched uranium had grown significantly. At the time, Araghchi dismissed the reports as "shoddy and politicized" and warned Europe against making "another major strategic mistake," stating, "Iran will react strongly against any violation of its rights."

This diplomatic friction soon gave way to open warfare.

On June 13, Israel launched large-scale assaults against Iran. The conflict dramatically escalated when Washington joined the Israeli campaign, bombing three of Iran’s main nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on June 22.

The 12-day air war, which Iran has since termed a "second Sacred Defense," resulted in significant casualties. According to Tehran, 1,062 people were killed inside Iran, including 786 military personnel and 276 civilians. In retaliation, Iranian missile strikes killed 31 civilians and one off-duty soldier in Israel, according to official Israeli figures. The hostilities were halted on June 24 after a United States-brokered ceasefire.

In the immediate aftermath, Iran took the drastic step of suspending its cooperation with the IAEA.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally approved a law to this effect, citing the agency’s failure to condemn the Israeli and U.S. strikes. The move prompted Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to call on the E3 to immediately activate the "snapback" mechanism—a provision in the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) allowing for the reimposition of UN sanctions. "The time to activate the Snapback mechanism is now!" Sa’ar declared.

Despite the deep freeze in relations, tentative diplomatic channels began to reopen. In early August, IAEA Deputy Head Lydie Evrard visited Tehran for the first talks since the suspension. Foreign Minister Araghchi clarified that the discussions were focused on establishing "a new cooperation framework" and that "no inspections or visits" to nuclear sites would occur until an agreement was reached.

Simultaneously, senior Iranian officials signaled a potential, albeit highly conditional, willingness to re-engage with Washington. First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref stated that if "suitable conditions arise, we are even willing to engage in direct talks," while dismissing U.S. calls for a complete abandonment of uranium enrichment as "a joke." Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi further clarified Iran's position, indicating Tehran could be "flexible on the capacities and limits of enrichment" in exchange for sanctions relief, but would never agree to stop enrichment, which it considers a non-negotiable right.

However, these diplomatic overtures have been set against a backdrop of hardened rhetoric and a declared state of military readiness within Iran. Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, recently delivered a stark assessment, declaring that Iran is not in a ceasefire but exists in a permanent "state of war" where any calm "could collapse at any moment." He revealed that Iran’s armed forces are preparing plans based on "worst-case scenarios" under the doctrine that "the best means of defense is offense." Similarly, the Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, asserted that his forces maintain "one-hundred-percent readiness," warning that Israel will "certainly act" if it ever senses an opportunity for success.

The country’s top security official, Ali Larijani, acknowledged internal vulnerabilities, describing enemy infiltration as a "serious matter" and "painful," but claimed Iran's retaliatory missile barrage during the war had left Israel "completely desperate." Adding to the defiant chorus, Iranian parliamentarian Manouchehr Mottaki warned that Tehran could withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) within 24 hours if European states revive sanctions.

In recent interviews, Foreign Minister Araghchi has provided the diplomatic rationale for Iran's current stance. He has dismissed the European threat of snapback sanctions, arguing the E3 has lost the legal authority to trigger the mechanism due to their insistence on "zero enrichment," which he claims amounts to a withdrawal from the JCPOA. Critically, Araghchi has linked the recent U.S. military aggression directly to the failure of prior negotiations. He stated that American negotiators in Oman-mediated talks had consistently demanded "zero enrichment," a position Iran completely resisted. "Yes, we had several operational plans to strike a balance between enrichment and non-proliferation," Araghchi revealed. "But once they returned to Washington, certain actors persuaded them to insist on ‘zero enrichment.’”

It is within this complex and fraught context—of recent warfare, suspended nuclear cooperation, defiant military posturing, and carefully defined red lines—that Foreign Minister Araghchi will engage his European counterparts on Friday. The call represents a critical test of whether diplomacy can find a path forward amid the ruins of the JCPOA and the fresh scars of military conflict.