Europeans likely to initiate UN sanctions process on Iran on Thursday, sources say

By John Irish and Parisa Hafezi

PARIS/DUBAI (Reuters) -Britain, France and Germany are likely to begin the process of reimposing U.N. sanctions on Iran on Thursday, but hope Tehran will provide commitments over its nuclear programme within 30 days that will convince them to defer concrete action, four diplomats said.

The trio, known as the E3, met Iran on Tuesday to try to revive diplomacy over the nuclear programme before they lose the ability in mid-October to restore sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.

Three European diplomats and a Western diplomat said Tuesday's talks did not yield sufficiently tangible commitments from Iran, although they believed there was scope for further diplomacy in the coming weeks.

They said the E3 had decided to start triggering the so-called snapback of U.N. sanctions, possibly as early as Thursday, over accusations that Iran has violated the 2015 deal with world powers that aimed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The West says the advancement of Iran's nuclear programme goes beyond civilian needs, while Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.

The U.N process takes 30 days before sanctions that would cover Iran's financial, banking, hydrocarbons and defence sectors were restored.

"The real negotiations will start once the letter (to the U.N. Security Council) is submitted," the Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A German foreign ministry spokesperson said triggering the snapback remained an option for the E3. The British and French foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tehran has warned of a "harsh response" if sanctions are reinstated.

NUCLEAR INSPECTORS

U.N. nuclear inspectors have returned to Iran for the first time since it suspended cooperation with them in the wake of Israel and the United States' attacks on its nuclear sites in June, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday they had been allowed into the country, although there was no agreement on what they would actually be allowed to do there or whether they would have access to nuclear facilities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also told lawmakers Tehran had not reached an agreement on how it would resume full work with the watchdog, parliament news agency ICANA reported.

The E3 have offered to delay the snapback for as much as six months to enable serious negotiations if Iran resumes full U.N. inspections - which would also seek to account for Iran's large stock of enriched uranium that has not been verified since the attacks - and engages in talks with the United States.

Iran has been enriching uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, a short step from the roughly 90% of weapons-grade, and had enough material enriched to that level, if refined further, for six nuclear weapons, before the strikes by Israel started on June 13, according the IAEA.

Actually producing a weapon would take more time, however, and the IAEA has said that while it cannot guarantee Tehran's nuclear programme is entirely peaceful, it has no credible indication of a coordinated weapons project in the Islamic Republic.

Iran and the United States had held several rounds of talks before June.

One diplomat said Iran had shown signs of readiness to resume negotiations with the U.S. in Tuesday's meeting with the E3. An Iranian source said it would only do so "if Washington guarantees there will be no (military) strikes during the talks".

(Additional reporting by Francois Murphy and Jonathan Landay;Editing by Alison Williams)