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       GENEVA: European and Iranian officials made little progress in meetings on Friday on whether they could engage in serious talks, including over Iran’s nuclear programme, before Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, diplomats said.

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       The meetings in Geneva, the first since this month’s US election, come after Tehran was angered by a European-backed resolution last week that criticised Iran for poor cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

       “Another round of candid discussions with political directors of France, Germany and United Kingdom,” Iran’s former ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on X.

       “It was agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue in near future.”

       A European official said there had been nothing of note in the meeting, but that Tehran had shown an eagerness to explore how diplomacy could work in next few weeks.

       Trump, who after pulling the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers pursued a “maximum pressure” policy that sought to wreck Iran’s economy, is staffing his new administration with noted hawks on Iran.

       Iran’s deputy foreign minister and senior nuclear negotiator Majid Takhtravanchi met the EU’s coordinator Enrique Mora on Thursday evening before holding talks on Friday with the European diplomats, known as the E3.

       While Trump’s return to power leaves many questions open, four Euro-pean diplomats said the E3 countries — the European parties to the 2015 accord — felt it was vital to engage now because time was running out.

       Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2024