Description: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has stated readiness to reignite negotiations with European countries pertaining to the so – called E3 Alliance, France, Germany and the UK. He reiterated Iran’s position to engage in extensive diplomatic efforts in order to reach an agreement over its disputed nuclear program as opposed to military action. The E3 countries are part of the 2015 JCPOA agreement and could instigate the snapback package of sanctions through the terms of the agreement. Iran is looking to build momentum around the upcoming negotiations with the US scheduled for 26 Apr in Oman as they express willingness to include the E3 countries before the JCPOA deadline expires in Oct. Diplomatic relations between Iran and the E3 have significantly deteriorated since Iran started enhancing uranium enrichment and repursued their nuclear ambitions.
Impact: Reintroducing the E3 Alliance of countries signals Iran’s preparedness to resort to diplomatic solutions over pursuing confrontational means in regard to resolving the dispute around the nuclear program. The negotiations with the US haven’t resulted in concrete proposals as the countries continue to diplomatically engage. Iran’s disputed nuclear program is one of the global issues that shaped modern geopolitics with almost every influential country involved in the negotiations. Iran is opening a diplomatic backdoor to Europe which could be exploited by the E3 bloc of countries to reassert Europe on the global power stage since the deterioration of relations with the US. Russia and China’s involvement is indisputable, as the proposal to include Germany, France and the UK in the negotiations comes after Iran’s direct consultations with both Beijing and Moscow. Potential involvement from the E3 could reshape the negotiations as both Iran and the US struggle to overcome key obstacles towards reaching agreeable conditions over the nuclear program. Russia and China would continue to play key roles in facilitating and steering Iran away from instigating military confrontation with the US and Israel.