Iran’s foreign minister to hold Paris talks Wednesday: French ministry

PARIS: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will hold talks with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris this week, France’s foreign ministry said Monday.

Tehran is under pressure from Western powers to allow inspectors from the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), into its facilities.

“Foreign Minister Araghchi will travel to France on Wednesday and hold talks with the minister,” the French ministry said, adding it would be the opportunity to urge Iran to resume its cooperation with the IAEA.

Western countries accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, a claim Tehran has systematically denied.

In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran says no access to bombed nuclear sites without IAEA deal

The war derailed high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington that had begun in April, during which the two sides were at odds over Iran’s right to enrich uranium – which Tehran defends as “inalienable”.

In September, an agreement was reached between Iran and the IAEA in Cairo to establish a framework for cooperation.

But Iran declared that deal invalid when Britain, Germany and France triggered the return of UN sanctions that had been lifted under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran’s top diplomat on Friday said a new approach should be taken for the monitoring of the country’s nuclear sites.

He had earlier in the day accused the United States, Britain, Germany and France of pursuing a path of “escalation”, after the IAEA passed a resolution demanding Tehran provide “full and prompt” cooperation including access to sensitive nuclear sites.

The meeting on Wednesday “will be an opportunity for us to call on Iran to comply with its obligations towards the IAEA and to quickly resume cooperation with the agency,” the French ministry said.