00:00Less than two months before termination day of the already defunct JCPOA, its European signatories, known as the E3, have made a symbolic last-ditch attempt to bring Iran back to the negotiating table, initiating the so-called snapback mechanism, which would, in 30 days, reinstate the UN-backed sanctions, which were lifted when the deal was signed.
00:22We have always said that the instrument of snapback is available. But equally, we have always made clear that we are interested in a diplomatic solution.
00:35Donald Trump has long pushed for the Europeans to take this step, having withdrawn his own country from the accord in 2018, after which time the deal lost clout and Iran gradually withdrew the International Atomic Energy Agency's powers of oversight on their nuclear program.
00:52But inspections continued regularly until the U.S. weighed in on the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, targeting three Iranian nuclear sites, after which Tehran expelled the IAEA.
01:03The nuclear watchdog announced on Wednesday that the inspectors had been allowed back in, but Tehran has made it clear that that could change.
01:10We have told them that if this happens, the pathway we have opened with the IAEA will be seriously affected and will likely be stopped.
01:23If they opt for a snapback, it makes no sense for Iran to continue working with them.
01:28The E3 group's hope is to pressure Tehran back to bilateral negotiations with Washington.
01:38The sanctions they threaten apply to the Iranian financial, hydrocarbon and defence sectors, sectors already subject to crippling U.S. sanctions since 2018 and other EU sanctions.
01:49Well, Iran says this decision by the E3 to trigger a mechanism reimposing sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal would undermine Tehran's cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
02:02Let's bring in Saeed Azimi, our correspondent in Tehran.
02:04Saeed, always great to have you on the program and thanks for being there live in Tehran.
02:10What is Iran's official line on this story?
02:12Just run through that for us again.
02:13Well, Mark, we have had some ambiguous responses while the Iranian foreign ministry condemned, strongly condemned and rejected the move by the E3.
02:26The statement remained positive in the sense that it kept the doors of diplomacy a little bit ajar, I must say, if not fully open.
02:35The statement by the Iranian foreign ministry urges a pathway to a constructive form of dialogue, but we don't know how that might happen because as it was played in the clip, the deputy foreign minister of Iran said that cooperation and interaction with the IAEA would most likely be stopped.
03:00And this is also mentioned in the statement put out by the Iranian foreign ministry that the move by the E3 will severely weaken Iran's cooperation and interactions with the IAEA.
03:12And Iran has repeatedly stated that if the stand-back mechanism is activated, then it will no longer consider France, UK and Germany a part of its diplomatic interactions and diplomatic interactions will be stopped.
03:26Meanwhile, hardline parliamentarians are advocating for the expulsion of France, UK and Germany's ambassadors.
03:35The matter will be brought up by a hardline parliamentarian named Hamid Rassai next week in the open session of the parliament.
03:43And that indeed seems like a fairly predictable reaction, but nonetheless one that isn't going to forward anybody's situation or anybody's interests, one feels as this develops.
03:55Saeed, we spoke about UN inspectors arriving in Iran visiting Boucher.
04:00Where would they have to go in order to comply with what the UN is expecting to be able to see?
04:08Well, Mark, the thing is the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran really likes to play everything close to the chest.
04:16Yes, we are unaware if the IAEA inspectors were able to actually inspect the Boucher nuclear power plants.
04:23They were scheduled to go to Tehran Research Reactor.
04:29But yet again, we are unaware if they were transferred from Boucher to Tehran.
04:34The thing is, I think with the recent move by the E3, the inspections will be limited.
04:43And this little path of cooperation that Iran had with the IAEA will most likely be stopped, as the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran said.
04:54Saeed Azimi in Tehran for us.
04:56Thank you very much indeed, sir.
04:57Thank you, Saeed Azimi, our correspondent there in Tehran, joining us live.
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