Delegations from Iran, the European Union and the so-called E3 group of France, Britain and Germany, arrived at the Iranian consulate in Istanbul on Friday (July 25) as Iran and the Europeans began nuclear talks.

Senior diplomats from the E3 group are set to hold talks with Iran's negotiating team for the first time since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June, aiming to gauge Tehran's appetite for a compromise to avert sanctions.

Ahead of the talks, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Tehran's position remained "firm and steadfast."

"Our uranium enrichment will continue; we will not give up this right of the Iranian people," Araqchi said in a video carried by state media, adding that Friday's talks are "a continuation of previous discussions, and the world must understand that our position is clear and unchanged."

The European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 deal - from which the U.S. withdrew in 2018 - that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme.

A deadline of Oct. 18 is fast approaching when the resolution governing that deal expires.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 25, 2025) (REUTERS - Access All)

1. VARIOUS OF GATE OF IRANIAN CONSULATE IN ISTANBUL

2. SIGN READING (Turkish): "CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN"

3. CONVOY WITH DIPLOMATIC PLATES ENTERING THROUGH GATE

4. JOURNALISTS GATHERED

5. DIPLOMATIC VEHICLE APPROACHING GATE

6. JOURNALISTS GATHERED

7. DIPLOMATIC VEHICLE ENTERING GATE

8. STREET OUTSIDE CONSULATE

9. SIGN READING (English) : "CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN"

10. TWO MEN IN SUITS ENTERING CONSULATE

11. JOURNALISTS GATHERED

12. DIPLOMATIC VEHICLE ENTERING CONSULATE GATE

13. POLICE OFFICER AND CONSULATE OFFICIAL OUTSIDE GATE

14. DIPLOMATIC VEHICLE ENTERING CONSULATE GATE

15. VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS WAITING OUTSIDE CONSULATE

16. POLICE OFFICER OUTSIDE CONSULATE GATE