Foreign minister says regional powers have been \u2018far more effective\u2019 than the European countries.<\/p>\n
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Published On 15 Feb 202615 Feb 2026<\/p>\n
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has derided the Munich Security Conference as a \u201ccircus\u201d, accusing European powers of \u201cparalysis and irrelevance\u201d in efforts to revive nuclear negotiations with the United States.<\/p>\n
Iranian officials were not invited to the annual security meeting in the German city, and the top Iranian diplomat made the remarks in a post on X on Sunday, two days before Iranian and US officials are to hold talks in Geneva, Switzerland.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSad to see the usually serious Munich Security Conference turned into the \u2018Munich Circus\u2019 when it comes to Iran,\u201d Araghchi wrote on X. \u201cThe paralysis and irrelevance of the EU\/E3 is displayed in the dynamics surrounding the current talks over Iran\u2019s nuclear program. \u2026 Once a key interlocutor, Europe is now nowhere to be seen. Instead, our friends in the region [the Gulf] are far more effective and helpful than an empty-handed and peripheral E3.\u201d<\/p>\n
The E3 \u2013 which included France, the United Kingdom and Germany \u2013 were key players in the previous round of nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran. That process culminated in 2015 with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a landmark agreement aimed at limiting the scope of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.<\/p>\n
The US under the first administration of President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and ramped up sanctions on Iran. Since then, the process has largely stalled. Still, the E3 maintained a role as a go-between with Tehran and Washington.<\/p>\n
But since negotiations resumed last year, Gulf countries, such as Oman and Qatar, have taken the lead in facilitating talks between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n
Araghchi\u2019s comments \u201cindicate a policy shift from the Iranian side that the E3 mechanism \u2026 is no longer a valid channel for resolution\u201d, said Abas Aslani, a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies. \u201cThis nuclear mediation has moved from Europe to the region, and now the heavy lifting in diplomacy is done by regional players.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Oman is to host talks between the US and Iran in Geneva after previous indirect negotiations in Muscat on February 6. Those talks were attended by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner.<\/p>\n
US and Iranian officials previously held several rounds of talks in the Omani capital to discuss Iran\u2019s nuclear programme last year. But that process was halted as Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June, which the US briefly joined by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n