Why do Europeans still believe a nuclear deal with Iran is possible?
Europe hopes to use diplomacy to avoid the threat of all-out war in the Middle East, amid fears that the conflict between Israel and Iran could engulf the wider region.
On Friday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, together with the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, will hold talks with representatives of the Tehran regime in Geneva.
The meeting aims to de-escalate the fighting between the two Middle Eastern powers, which began when Israel launched airstrikes against Iran and killed some of its top military commanders last Friday.
The Europeans seek to initiate a form of shuttle diplomacy between Israel, Iran, Washington and the main European capitals.
They would like to reestablish a security dialogue with Tehran, similar to the one interrupted in 2018 when the first Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The JCPA, which was signed by Iran along with China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia and the UK in 2015, stipulated an easing of Western sanctions against the Middle Eastern country in exchange for Tehran's commitment to a drastic reduction of Uranium stockpiles and centrifuges at its nuclear facilities.
Such sites are now being targeted by Israeli missile attacks, including those at Natanz and Isfahan.
In 2018, despite the UN nuclear agency saying that Tehran was progressively adopting the restrictions required by the agreement, Trump's administration withdrew from the JCPOA, effectively rendering it null and void.
By walking back on the JCPOA, the US put an end to one of the main achievements of European foreign policy.
David Rigoulet-Roze, an author and associate research fellow at IRIS, a French foreign policy institute, said the cancellation of the Iranian nuclear deal of 2015 was a hasty act.
"The agreement had the merit, despite all its imperfections, of existing, of serving as a basis, including for the possible subsequent renegotiation of something more binding', said Rigoulet-Roze. 'Even though, the Europeans were not in control of the process'.
The accord represented an opportunity for the EU to reopen trade relations with Iran after decades of US and Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
However, after the JCPOA's demise, the regime in Tehran stigmatised the EU for the failure of the agreement.
'Somewhat wrongly, because we obviously didn't provoke the cancellation of the accord and we have also suffered the consequences of what is known as the extraterritoriality of American law', Rigoulet-Roze said.
He noted the capacity of the US to impose sanctions on a global scale, particularly secondary sanctions, 'which are formidable and which have obviously curbed Europe's desire to develop trade relations that were authorised after 2015'.
Iran has been a party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty since the time of Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was the original founder of Iran's nuclear programme. Therefore, Tehran has been obliged to open up its sites for inspection by UN agencies.
This motivated Brussels to treat Iran as a potentially rational actor despite its puzzling decisions and smoke and mirrors regarding its nuclear programme.
Years ago, Tehran ended its highly enriched uranium production, yet it continued developing its military conventional ballistic capabilities and financing Middle Eastern proxies, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
"This was a kind of matter of national pride as far as the Iranians were concerned. So I don't think that they, and this is in retrospect, ever planned to negotiate it away,' senior British diplomat and adviser Robert Cooper told Euronews.
A strategic nuclear force, Cooper explained, "was going to mark them out as one of the most important powers in the Middle East. And as an international power beyond the Middle East as well."
The Iranian nuclear programme and the existence of uranium enrichment equipment and heavy water facilities were officially made public by then-president Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who persuaded France, Germany and the UK to reach a deal that was meant to oblige Tehran to stop the uranium enrichment.
Javier Solana, the EU foreign and security policy chief at the time, attended the negotiations in Tehran. The Spanish diplomat was one of the deal's key architects, who believed that a deal is better than any conflict, and that the EU is best poised to broker it.
"Solana was fascinated by Iran, and you know, we had a certain admiration for it. Our aim at the time was to persuade the Iranians that a military nuclear programme would make them a target,' Cooper recalled.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Commission to withdraw greenwashing proposal in new blow to Green Deal
The European Commission intends to withdraw a proposal aimed at combating so-called "greenwashing" by ensuring companies' environmental claims are accurate, substantiated and independently verified, an EU executive spokesperson told reporters today. The proposal on Green Claims was initially presented in March 2023 as part of the broader European Green Deal legislative framework. This move marks the latest in a series of rollbacks of major Green Deal initiatives, after so-called "Omnibus" papers intended to simplify EU legislation effectively narrowed the scope of measures such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. The announcement on the Green Claims Directive came ahead of a final meeting between the Polish EU Council presidency and MEPs scheduled next Monday, which was expected to give the proposal the green light ahead of formal adoption. Its withdrawal at this late stage has taken many by surprise, including the negotiators. When questioned by reporters, Commission officials declined to provide detailed reasons for the decision, saying only that more information would follow. According to parliamentary sources close to the file, chief negotiators socialist MEP Delara Burkhardt and liberal MEP Sandro Gozi still intended to proceed with the trilogue negotiations on Monday, noting that the talks were nearing a successful conclusion. 'It is unacceptable that the Commission blatantly interferes with the progress made by co-legislators on this file,' a member of the Parliament's negotiating team told Euronews, expressing frustration at what they see as a unilateral and premature move. Likewise, Poland's presidency of the EU Council 'is ready to enter constructively into the trilogue and go ahead as planned until there is a clear decision from the Commission [on the withdrawal],' a Polish spokesperson tol Euronews. It remains unclear whether the decision to withdraw the proposal has been formally adopted by the Commission's College, the weekly meeting of the 26 Commissioners and EU President Ursula von der Leyen. Beyond the immediate legislative impact, the move raises broader questions about the Commission's authority to retract its own proposals. While EU treaties do not explicitly grant this power, a 2015 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union affirmed that the Commission may withdraw proposals as part of its right of initiative. However, the Court also made clear that this power is limited and subject to both substantive and procedural constraints. The ruling emphasised that withdrawal should only occur in justified cases, such as institutional deadlock or the proposal becoming obsolete. Neither condition appears to apply in the case of the Green Claims Directive, prompting concerns that the Commission could be overstepping its role and upsetting the institutional balance by exercising a de facto veto over the legislative process.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Verifying conflicting accounts of Iran's strike on an Israeli hospital
Conflicting narratives have emerged after an Iranian missile struck an Israeli hospital on Thursday, with Tehran claiming it was targeting military facilities while the Israeli defence minister described the attack as a "war crime." Israel's Health Ministry said 71 people were wounded after missiles struck the Soroka hospital. A spokesperson for the medical facility said there had been no serious casualties as the part of the hospital that was hit directly had already been evacuated. Tehran's top diplomat has claimed that the strike "eliminated" two Israeli military targets. "Our powerful Armed Forces accurately eliminated an Israeli Military Command, Control & Intelligence HQ and another vital target," Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on X, adding that the blast "caused superficial damage to a small section" of the hospital. Euronews' fact-checking team, Euroverify, has analysed videos from the site of the strike and consulted military experts to verify the plausibility of these claims. Video footage that we've verified shows significant destruction to buildings within the hospital complex, as well as medical workers running to evacuate from the site. Other photographic evidence analysed by our team suggest hospital buildings were directly impacted by missiles. We have also geo-located a video that shows the moment the missile hit a hospital building to the north of the Soroka complex, near David Ben Gurion street. This evidence contradicts the Iranian foreign minister's claims that damage to the site was "superficial' and caused by a "blast wave" from a nearby strike. Hospitals have special protection under the Geneva Convention, but lose that protection if used to commit 'acts harmful to the enemy', such as launching an attack or storing weapons. Israel has consistently targeted hospitals in its war in Gaza, claiming they are being used by Hamas militants. No evidence has yet emerged to suggest the Soroka hospital site was being used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Dr. Ron Schleifer, an Israeli expert on information warfare, told Euroverify that the IDF does not use hospitals and other public facilities to "hide behind the civilian population." "A hospital is clearly not a legitimate target, at least in the eyes of the West," Dr Schleifer said, adding that "Israel does not need to hide military installations under hospitals." Yet, Iran has not alleged the hospital itself was being used for warring purposes, but rather that its missile was targeting two military targets in the hospital's vicinity: a "command and intelligence (IDF C4i) headquarters" and an "army intelligence campus in the Gav-Yam Technology Park." IDF C4i is the Israeli military's elite technological unit, and was described by the IDF in 2021 as being "responsible for all the contacts, computers and communications of IDF forces on the battlefield." The exact site of its headquarters is classified information and cannot be verified. The second site targeted according to Iran was the IDF technology campus at the Gav-Yam Technology park. That campus is located near the site of the strike, around 1.5km to the north-east. No verified videos have emerged to suggest the IDF campus was struck in the Thursday strike. In fact, verified videos only show impact on the hospital complex itself. This would suggest that if Iran was aiming at military targets, it missed. Two OSINT experts told Euroverify that their analysis of Iranian strikes on Israel over the past days suggests that Iran lacks precision in hitting its targets. Early on Friday morning, Israeli public media Kan reported that a fresh attack on Beersheba "targeted a residential neighbourhood," with inital reports suggesting the site of the Gav-Yam Negev park was impacted. In his post on X, the Iranian foreign minister shared a map that purports to show two Israeli military targets right next to the Soroka hospital. But the map is fake. The street names and topography do not correspond to the area, and major sites, including the Gav-Yam Negev technology park, are misspelt. X users have also misleadingly claimed that a video of an Iranian strike hitting the Israeli capital of Tel Aviv on Thursday shows an impact on the Gav-Yam Negev park. We've verified that the videos in question show a strike on the Ramat Gan neighbourhood in Tel Aviv, and not in the vicinity of the Soroka hospital as the user claims. Our journalists are continuing to verify footage emerging from the affected area and will update this story with the latest developments. More countries are evacuating their citizens from the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran rages on, despite international efforts to find a diplomatic solution. Days of attacks and reprisals by the adversaries have shuttered airspace across the region, severely disrupting commercial flights. A repatriation flight transporting 69 people from Israel landed in Portugal on Thursday evening, with 48 Portuguese citizens among the passengers. The Portuguese government announced the temporary closure of its embassy in Tehran this week, alongside ongoing repatriation operations in the Middle East. In Serbia, 38 people arrived safely in Belgrade on Thursday night, most of whom were Serbian nationals. They arrived on a special Air Serbia flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, organised by the Serbian government, who said the evacuation of those wishing to leave Israel and Iran would continue. On Thursday, Serbian Prime Minister Đuro Macut met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Cairo to discuss the emergency evacuation of more than 2,500 Serbian nationals stranded in Israel. Meanwhile, in Romania, more than a hundred people arrived in the capital Bucharest on Friday on military transport flights from the Middle East. The Romanian Ministry of Defence sent the planes to the region after its nationals requested assistance. The conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on 13 June following Israeli bombings on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, which resulted in the deaths of military leaders, scientists and civilians. More than 400 EU citizens from countries including Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia have been evacuated from Israel in flights supported by the European Commission.
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Iran's Arak heavy water reactor damaged in Israeli strike, IAEA says
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday that an Israeli air strike at the Arak heavy water reactor in Iran also damaged key buildings there, "including the distillation unit." In a post on X, the IAEA said it had information that the reactor that had been hit was under construction and non-operational, and so contained no nuclear material. The agency said that at present it has no information to confirm where exactly the complex had been hit. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi is scheduled to address the UN Security Council later on Friday to update them on the situation regarding Iranian nuclear sites. Iran's nuclear programme sits at the heart of the current conflict with Israel, currently in its eighth day, with Israeli officials pledging to destroy what they see as an existential threat to their country. Iran was previously subject to an international nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which saw the country receive sanctions relief in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear activities. During his first term in office, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the pact in 2018, slamming it as "the worst deal ever negotiated" and slapping new sanctions on Iran. Since then, the other signatories to the deal have scrambled to keep Iran in compliance, but Tehran considers the deal void and has continued with uranium enrichment, which at current levels sits at 60%. That's still technically below the weapons-grade levels of 90%, but still far above the 3.67% permitted under the JCPOA. Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful and purely for civilian purposes and that the reactor at Arak will only be used for research and development, medical and industrial isotope production. Israel, on the other hand, says Tehran is working towards the construction of a nuclear weapon, which could be used against Israel. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said European diplomats will make a "comprehensive, diplomatic and technical offer of negotiation" to Iran in Geneva on Friday as a key response to the "threat" represented by Iran's nuclear programme. 'No one can seriously believe that this threat can be met with (Israel's) current operations alone," Macron said. "Why? Because there are some plants that are highly protected and because today, no one knows exactly where the uranium is enriched to 60%. So we need to regain control on (Iran's nuclear) program through technical expertise and negotiation," he added. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot will coordinate with UK and German counterparts - known collectively as the E3 countries - in Geneva before they meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. "It's absolutely essential to prioritise a return to substantial negotiations, including nuclear negotiations to move towards zero (uranium) enrichment, ballistic negotiations to limit Iran's activities and capabilities and the financing of all terrorist groups and destabilisation of the region that Iran has been carrying out for several years," Macron insisted. Macron also reiterated his call for Israel's strikes on energy and civilian infrastructures and civilian populations in Iran to be stopped. "There's no justification for that," he said.
