Europe to Discuss Iran’s Nuclear Program

Iran will hold nuclear talks with representatives from Britain, France, and Germany on July 25, 2025 in Istanbul, Turkey, after the European countries threatened to reimpose U.N. sanctions on Iran if they did not limit their nuclear program by the end of August. The talks may increase tensions between the U.S. and Iran–tensions that could come to include Europe, China, and Russia as well.

The conflict began when Israel launched missiles toward Iran’s nuclear facilities in June of this year. President Trump also launched airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. It is unknown whether the bombs successfully prevented Iran from building nuclear weapons, according to U.S. officials. For this reason, Iran is reluctant to hold nuclear talks with the U.S. At a news conference on July 21, Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, confirmed, “At present, we have no plans to hold talks with the United States.” The U.S. will not be involved in the meeting between Europe and Iran.

In 2015, Britain, France, Germany, the U.S. (then under the Obama administration), China, Russia, and the European Union all signed a nuclear deal with Iran that basically said that if Iran violated the nuclear terms, “snapback” sanctions were to be reimposed on Iran. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said on social media on July 18th that Europe did not have any “moral and legal ground” to reapply the U.N. sanctions. Although the United States agreed to this deal during Obama’s term, Trump pulled out of the agreement during his first term in 2018.

Europe threatened Iran in order to meet three goals. First, they hoped that by threatening Iran with the sanctions (which Europe lifted 10 years ago), Iran would be more willing to negotiate with them. Second, the European countries also wanted to convince Iran to continue cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a U.N. organization that promotes peaceful use of nuclear technology, after Iran stopped cooperating in June. Finally, the European countries wanted to stop Iran from enriching uranium. Some of Iran’s uranium is near-bomb-grade and may soon produce up to 10 nuclear weapons, says the I.A.E.A. A single nuclear bomb could destroy a city, let alone ten.

As before, Iran defends its nuclear program, saying that it is for peaceful purposes. Some Iranian government officials believe that if Iran successfully fostered atomic weapons, they could be used for protection against perceived threats or attacks. This belief has likely gained credibility ever since the Israeli and American military strikes in June, according to the New York Times. However, European countries fear that if Iran does create nuclear weapons, tensions in the Middle East would increase immensely and may further destabilize the region.

Iran has made huge nuclear progress in recent years — from zero to ten weapons. The country may soon join the current five nuclear-weapon states, which are Russia, China, the U.S., the U.K., and France (which were recognized by the Non-Proliferation Treaty). Too many countries with nuclear weapons may increase tensions between powers and may eventually lead to a nuclear war.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-program-sanctions.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-talks-europe.html