EU: Iran Yet to Take Nuke Action       09/18 06:21

   European officials told Iran on Wednesday it had yet to take the actions 
needed to stop the return of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, 
warning time was running out.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- European officials told Iran on 
Wednesday it had yet to take the actions needed to stop the return of United 
Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, warning time was running out.

   The comments from the German Foreign Ministry and the European Union came 
after a call Iran had Wednesday with representatives of France, Germany and the 
United Kingdom, as well as the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.

   "The window for finding a diplomatic solution on Iran's nuclear issue is 
closing really fast," Kallas warned in a statement. "Iran must show credible 
steps towards addressing the demands of France, (the) U.K. and Germany, and 
this means demonstrating full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy 
Agency and allowing inspections of all nuclear sites without delay."

   The German Foreign Ministry separately wrote on the social platform X that 
"Iran has yet to take the reasonable and precise actions necessary to" stop the 
reimposition of U.N. sanctions.

   In a statement issued hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi 
again asserted that the reimposition of U.N. sanctions was "lacking any legal 
or logical justification." He also pointed to the fact that Iran and the IAEA 
earlier reached a deal mediated by Egypt to grant the U.N. watchdog access to 
all Iranian nuclear sites and for Tehran to report on the whereabouts of all 
its nuclear material.

   However, it remains unclear when Iran will make that report. And Araghchi in 
his statement offered no other routes to satisfying the Europeans' concerns.

   "It is now up to the other parties to seize this opportunity to keep the 
diplomatic path open and avert an avoidable crisis, showing seriousness and 
belief in diplomacy," he said.

   A 12-day war launched by Israel against Iran in June saw both the Israelis 
and the Americans bomb Iranian nuclear sites, throwing into question the status 
of Tehran's stockpile of uranium enriched nearly to weapons-grade levels.

   The process to reimplement sanctions on Iran, termed a "snapback" by the 
diplomats who negotiated it into Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, 
was designed to be veto-proof at the U.N. It will take effect at the end of 
September unless the U.N. Security Council agrees to stop it.

   It will again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and 
penalize any development of Iran's ballistic missile program, among other 
measures, further squeezing the country's reeling economy.

   Using the "snapback" mechanism will likely heighten tensions between Iran 
and the West in a region still burning over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza 
Strip, particularly after Israel began its ground offensive targeting Gaza City.