Iran says it's ready to hold talks over its nuclear programme and adress the West's concerns

Iran says it is ready to hold fresh talks with western countries to discuss its nuclear programme and alleviate any concerns.

Tehran is scheduled to hold talks with the UK, Germany and France on 13 and 14 January in the Swiss city of Geneva. Iran’s highly controversial nuclear program is on the agenda of those talks, as well as various other issues.

“These talks (referring to the talks between Iran and Britain, Germany and France) will be held next week, I think on January 13 and 14, in Geneva. This is the continuation of the talks we had in December with the three European countries and the EU foreign policy representative. A wide range of topics will be discussed, including regional issues, bilateral ties with the EU and the nuclear issue,” said Esmail Baghaei, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman during a regular media briefing.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Tehran’s uranium enrichment drive is “nearing a point of no return”. The French leader warned European partners in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, to consider reimposing sanctions if no progress is reached.

Iran’s foreign ministry called upon Paris to review its approach, which it labelled “unconstructive”, ahead of the new talks.

“Untrue claims by a government that has itself refused to fulfil its obligations under the nuclear deal and has played a major role in Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons is deceitful and projective,” said Esmail Baghaei in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

US President-elect Donald Trump, set to be inaugurated on 20 January, unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, and reimposed sanctions in 2018 during his first term in office.

His policies aimed to exert “maximum pressure” on Tehran caused significant damage to the Iranian economy. The Iranian Rial, the national currency, witnessed a steep depreciation in its value under Trump’s presidency.