A new round of nuclear talks involving Iran and France, Germany and the United Kingdom concluded in Geneva on Tuesday as the European powers' possible triggering of United Nations sanctions on Tehran looms.
Deputy foreign ministers from the four countries took part in the meetings which follow a previous round held in Istanbul in July.
The talks held in Geneva produced no tangible results, The Wall Street Journal's correspondent Laurence Norman reported citing sources. "Iran did put some promises on the table but they lacked detail/substance."
In the talks, "the Iranians gave E3 representatives very little to work with in order to get an extension of the snapback," Axios reported citing an unnamed source.
At the Istanbul talks in July, the three European powers reportedly floated a proposal to avoid imminent confrontation by agreeing to a six-month extension on the sanctions move in exchange for various diplomatic concessions.
In Geneva, the Iranians did not "put tangible detailed deliverables on the table," the report added.
It "was not a disaster," but did not lead to any progress, Axios reported citing an informed source.
The E3 envoys "will report to their countries' foreign ministers so that they can decide in the coming days whether to activate the snapback mechanism or not," the report added.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom have warned they are prepared to trigger the so-called “snapback” mechanism by the end of August if Tehran fails to reach a diplomatic solution over its disputed nuclear program.
Iran warns of consequences
"In Geneva, we explained to the Europeans that, for legal reasons, they have no right to use the snapback mechanism, and that if such a thing happens, it will have consequences for them," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said without elaborating.
"It was agreed that contacts between Iran and the European side would continue in the coming days," Esmail Baghaei said.
The snapback mechanism, part of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 — which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — allows any party to the accord to file a complaint accusing Iran of non-compliance.
If no resolution is reached within 30 days, all previous UN sanctions would automatically resume and would include arms embargoes, cargo inspections and missile restrictions.
