Negotiations related to the nuclear program between Iran and the three European countries were last held in Geneva on November 29 2024 after a two-year hiatus. Diplomats from Britain, Germany, France, and Iran met to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program and sanctions against the country.
A week earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution initiated by Britain, Germany, France, and the United States. This resolution was criticized by Tehran as an anti-Iranian move because it did not take into account the results of the visit of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Iran.
Grossi visited Iran on November 14-15 to hold talks with Iranian leaders and inspect Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordo and Natanz. The aim was to determine the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program. Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, in his meeting with Grossi, stressed that Iran has never developed and will not develop nuclear weapons.
Analysts saw the talks in late November last year as the last chance to revive diplomacy on Iran's nuclear program before Donald Trump's return to power earlier this year.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 by Iran, France, Germany, Britain, China, Russia, the United States, and the European Union. The deal stipulated the easing of international sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.
However, the United States withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, which then announced a gradual reduction in its commitments related to nuclear research and uranium enrichment.
Preventing countries from developing nuclear weapons is difficult when nuclear-armed states and nuclear alliances insist that these weapons of mass destruction are essential to their security.
However, all countries should recognize that continued reliance on weapons of mass destruction will only make the world less safe. The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons offers a path forward to renounce nuclear weapons once and for all in a verifiable manner. All countries should join this treaty without delay. It is hoped that the upcoming meeting on January 13 will produce positive results for a safe and peaceful world.
