Trump says Iran won’t be given time to build a nuclear weapon

Senior diplomats from Iran and the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal met in Istanbul on Friday in what appears to be Tehran’s attempt to prevent a "snapback" of the UN sanctions that were suspended for ten years as part of that deal.

But the initiative is being questioned—somewhat surprisingly—by voices long known for advocating diplomacy, such as former lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh.

“There is no point in holding talks with Europeans. Iran’s only solution is to continue negotiations with the United States,” he told the conservative Nameh News on Friday

“Europe’s influence will remain insignificant as long as Trump is the President of the United States.”

Missed chances

A former head of parliament’s foreign policy committee, Falahatpisheh argued that Iran’s recent diplomatic overtures to the signatories of the 2015 deal are little more than a symbolic attempt to break out of the political impasse created by Washington.

“Iran should have negotiated with (US President) Trump during his first term,” Falahatpisheh said. “Unfortunately, Iranian officials are known for their costly and untimely decisions.”

This critique of past decisions may be shared by many in Tehran’s commentariat, but the way forward is certainly not.

“Even if talks with the Americans are paused or entangled in new complexities, we should not stop our negotiations with the Europeans,” political analyst Ali Bigdeli told the moderate outlet Fararu.

“The truth is that the Europeans are holding a hostage called the ‘trigger mechanism,’ which they can use to pressure us. If they don’t agree to postpone its activation by a year, they can use it as leverage against us,” he added.

Fearing the trigger

The trigger clause in the 2015 nuclear deal allows any signatory to reimpose lifted UN sanctions on Iran. The United States effectively forfeited that prerogative when the first Trump administration withdrew from the agreement in 2018.

It remains unclear whether the so-called snapback of sanctions was discussed in the Istanbul roundtable on Friday.

European officials described the event as a broad discussion about Tehran’s relationship with the West. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asserted that it had “nothing to do with negotiations with Washington.”

It did, as far as the media inside Iran are concerned. Whatever their view on the significance of the Istanbul meeting, most editorials linked it to the talks with the US.

“The position of the United States, which has initiated bilateral negotiations with Tehran, has somewhat sidelined Europe’s role,”Khabar Online wrote in an editorial on Friday.

“The nuclear negotiations are not merely a diplomatic engagement between Iran and Europe, but will more broadly affect the balance of power in the region,” it concluded.

Trump's remarks could herald a bigger role for Qatar as the US-Iran talks mediated by Oman appear headed for crunch time.

During a state dinner in Doha this week, Trump appeared to acknowledge Qatar’s crucial role in helping put off a US military strike on Iran amid high stakes talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Trump praised Qatar’s leadership, specifically Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for resisting calls within Washington and its allies to deliver a “hard blow” to Iran.

“Iran should seriously thank the emir of Qatar, because there are others who want to deal a hard blow to Iran, unlike Qatar,” Trump said. “Iran is very lucky to have the emir because he’s actually fighting for them. He doesn’t want us to do a vicious blow to Iran.”

Hashem Ahelbarra, a correspondent for Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera, said the comments strongly indicate a potential larger role for Doha in mediating a settlement between Tehran and Washington.

“They played quite a crucial role in mediating between the Iranians and the Americans in the past.”

Increased Qatari engagement would come at a time Iran is signaling openness to include its Sunni Arab neighbors in the nuclear negotiation process.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visits to Riyadh and Doha earlier this month just ahead of the fourth round of nuclear talks held in Oman and Abu Dhabi highlight Tehran’s willingness to broaden the regional dialogue.

Perils of potential US-Iran military confrontation for Qatar

The gas-rich microstate has been key mediator for the United States in regional conflagrations from Afghanistan to Gaza.

Qatar, which has strong ties with the US and hosts Al Udeid Air Base—the largest US military base in the Middle East—opposes any US or Israeli military strike on Iran and its nuclear facilities, emphasizing the risk of regional destabilization, and seeks a diplomatic solution.

Iranian officials, including Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, have issued multiple warnings that Iran would retaliate against US military bases and interests in the region if Washington initiates a military strike.

“We have no hostility toward our neighboring countries, and brotherhood prevails among us. However, US bases located in the region's countries will be considered targets by us in the event of an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.

Additionally, Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route, if a war breaks out.

In March 2025, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned that military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities could have catastrophic environmental consequences, such as contaminating the Persian Gulf’s waters.

This, he said, would imperil the water security of Qatar, along with other states like the UAE and Kuwait, all of which rely heavily on desalinated water from the Persian Gulf.

Good neighbors

Iran and Qatar, which share stewardship of South Pars, the world’s largest natural gas field, have maintained close economic and political relations over the years.

Iran played a crucial role in helping Qatar maintain economic stability and connectivity with the outside world when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar in 2017, partly due to its close ties with Iran.

Tehran offered Doha diplomatic support, opened its airspace to Qatari aircraft, sent dozens of cargo planes and ships loaded with food, and expanded maritime trade routes to Qatar through its southern ports.

More recently, Doha initiated indirect talks between the US and Iran in 2023, focusing on potential compromises around Iran’s uranium enrichment levels in exchange for phased sanctions relief.

Qatar also played a pivotal role in facilitating the release of five American citizens detained in Iran in September 2023, hosting multiple rounds of indirect negotiations between US and Iranian officials in Doha.

The detainees were freed in exchange for five Iranians held in the US, alongside the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds previously frozen in South Korea.

The unfrozen funds, stipulated to be used solely for humanitarian purposes, such as purchasing food and medicine, were transferred to Qatari banks and Qatar committed to overseeing the disbursement of these funds to ensure compliance with US sanctions.

The funds, however, have not been made available to Iran due to a quiet agreement between Washington and Doha.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei blamed Washington for obstructing the release of the funds during his meeting with the Emir of Qatar in Tehran in February and said Iran expected Doha to resist US pressure.

“They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad—something bad's going to happen,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving the United Arab Emirates.

Axios reported Thursday that the written proposal was delivered during the fourth round of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials last Sunday in Muscat, Oman. It was the first formal offer made by the Trump administration since negotiations began in April, Axios cited US and diplomatic sources saying.

The document, handed over by White House envoy Steve Witkoff, outlines terms for a civilian nuclear program, with specific provisions for international monitoring and verification.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly took the proposal back to Tehran for review by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, and other senior officials.

Witkoff described the proposal as “elegant” and “very big” in a recent briefing to the United Nations Security Council, according to Axios, but acknowledged that more work was needed. A fifth round of talks has not yet been scheduled.

Iran has responded positively in public statements. Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei told NBC News that Tehran is ready to stop enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels, reduce its stockpiles and accept inspections—if the United States lifts all sanctions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking Thursday from Turkey, said the diplomatic window remains open but warned the decision ultimately rests with Iran’s leadership.

“In the end, the decision lies in the hands of one person, and that's the Supreme Leader in Iran, and I hope he chooses the path of peace and prosperity, not a destructive path,” Rubio told reporters.

Gharibabadi said he and fellow Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi hosted the political directors of the UK, France, and Germany for discussions aimed at advancing diplomatic efforts.

“Iran and the E3 are determined to sustain and make best use of diplomacy,” he wrote on X. “We will meet again, as appropriate, to continue our dialogue.”

A German diplomatic source told Iran International ahead of the meeting that discussions would focus on Iran’s nuclear program, but stressed, “These are not negotiations.” The source said Germany was represented by Dominik Mutter, Political Director at the Federal Foreign Office.

Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran remained open to talks with Europe, “even if their own policies have led to some isolation in these negotiations.”

Few details have emerged from the meeting, and no major breakthroughs have been announced.

Under the UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, the three European signatories – Britain, France, and Germany – have the authority to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran through a mechanism known as the "snapback," if they determine that Tehran is not complying with the agreement.

Diplomats told Reuters that the E3 could move to trigger the snapback mechanism as early as August if no significant progress is made in negotiations. The deadline to do so under the resolution is October 18.

Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Friday in Istanbul with the national security advisors of the UK, France, and Germany to discuss both Iran and the war in Ukraine, according to a US official and a Reuters witness.

The United States and Iran have held four rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations mediated by Oman since April. Both sides have described the talks as “constructive,” though no formal agreement has been reached.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Persian Gulf states this week, US President Donald Trump said Iran had “sort of agreed” to American terms and declared, “We’re getting very close to a deal.” Trump reiterated that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon and warned Tehran faces either “a very, very nice step” or “a violent step — the violence like people haven’t seen before.”

On Friday, Trump added that Iran has received a formal US proposal and must act quickly. Axios reported that the written proposal was handed to Iranian negotiators during the fourth round of talks in Oman and taken back to Tehran for consultation with senior officials.

Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris were arrested in May 2022 during a tourist trip to Iran. Both were charged with espionage, which they deny. They remain in detention in Iran’s Evin prison.

“They have been held hostage… detained in appalling conditions that amount to torture,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told France 2 television. He said Iran had denied France’s requests for consular access.

The case was formally filed on Friday morning in The Hague, France’s foreign ministry confirmed.

Paris argues that Iran has violated the Vienna Convention, which guarantees consular rights for foreign nationals. “France is acting to defend its citizens and uphold international law,” ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said on Thursday.

Kohler, a teacher, and Paris, her partner, are the last known French citizens held in Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron has described them as “state hostages.”

France and other European Union members accuse Iran of practicing “hostage diplomacy” — detaining foreigners to pressure Western governments.

Iran denies the accusation. Its officials say the arrests followed legal procedures and reject claims of mistreatment.

The legal move comes as Iranian officials are due to meet with European diplomats in Turkey for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have reported on the use of forced confessions in Iran and poor conditions in its prisons. Iran has broadcast videos of Kohler and Paris appearing to confess. France has called the footage coerced and unreliable.