Nuclear program of Iran

The informal EU foreign ministers' meeting in Helsinki ends in today.

The agenda of the first diplomats includes a discussion on the Arctic and a working session with the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey on regional cooperation.

The protests in Hong Kong are also expected to be discussed today.

Iran will not talk to the United States until all sanctions imposed on Tehran are lifted, President Hassan Rouhani said on Aug. 27, a day after President Donald Trump said he would meet his Iranian counterpart to try to end a nuclear standoff.

Iran is not interested in negotiating with Washington, but if there is mediation, it should focus on the US returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, which they left last year. This was stated by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, quoted by BTA.

In the same time, he accused French President Emmanuel Macron of sending "mixed signals" to Tehran over possible talks.
"I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself," Trump said in a series of tweets.

Iran's president lambasted new U.S. sanctions by the Trump administration targeting the country's foreign minister, describing the move Thursday as "childish" and a barrier to diplomacy.

The United States on July 31 imposed sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, targeting the country's top spokesman and potentially hurting chances of diplomatic talks amid rising tensions between the two countries.

European Union nations threw their diplomatic weight behind the unraveling Iran nuclear deal on July 15, trying to rescue the pact from collapsing under U.S. pressure.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on July 15 that there was still time to save the Iran nuclear deal and that despite the United States being Britain's closest ally it disagreed on how to handle the Iran crisis.

Iran increased its uranium enrichment on July 7 beyond the limit allowed by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, inching its program closer toward weapons-grade levels while calling for a diplomatic solution to a crisis heightening tensions with the U.S.

Iran said on July 7 it was set to breach the uranium enrichment cap set by an endangered nuclear deal within hours as it seeks to press signatories into keeping their side of the bargain.