Istanbul: Negotiations between Iran and the so-called E3 states - Germany, France, and the United Kingdom - are planned for this week. The meeting is to take place on Friday in Istanbul at the level of deputy foreign ministers, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, according to the web portal of the daily newspaper Etemad.

According to Oman News Agency, Iran will be represented by two deputy foreign ministers, Majid Takht-Ravanchi and Kazem Gharibabadi, who are also part of the nuclear negotiating team. The Vienna nuclear agreement, which is not being adhered to in practice, formally expires in mid-October. As co-signatories to the 2015 deal, the E3 states could apply to the UN Security Council for the reintroduction of previous sanctions.

The meeting in Trkiye would be the first round of negotiations since a ceasefire came into force after Israel's war against Iran. Before the war, Tehran had spent around two months negotiating with the United States over its nuclear program.

The aim of the negotiations is to find restrictions on Iran's nuclear program that Tehran finds, and make sure Iran does not have the capability to develop an acceptable nuclear weapon. Iran, for its part, hopes that the talks will lead to the lifting of sanctions that are paralyzing its economy. Tehran has always insisted that its nuclear program is exclusively for civilian use.