TEHRAN, September 2. /TASS/. The Eurotroika (Great Britain, Germany, and France) told Iran they would be ready to delay the process of restoring UN Security Council sanctions on it if the Islamic Republic agrees to hold direct talks with the United States, Spokesperson of the Iranian government Fatemeh Mohajerani said.

She described conditions put forward by the Europeans regarding direct talks between Iran and the United States to extend the snapback mechanism as very strange. "The three European countries today have a proposal that we view as illegitimate. They would like us to hold direct talks with a country that withdrew from the [JCPOA] agreement (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed in 2015 between Iran and a team of international mediators, including Britain, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, and France - TASS) itself," Mohajerani said at a news briefing.

According to her, Iran will decide on whether to continue talks with the United States based on its own interests, while the European countries, she argued, are thinking of their wellbeing less as they choose to project their problems onto others.

On August 28, the UK, Germany, and France launched the snapback mechanism. The E3 also announced their willingness to continue negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program for 30 days to extend the provisions of UNSC Resolution 2231, which lifted sanctions on Tehran and is set to expire on October 18.