Iran will begin a fresh round of nuclear negotiations with European powers in late January 2025, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei announced on December 23.

The 2015 deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. However, it collapsed after US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out in 2018, prompting Iran to scale back its commitments and forcing investors to leave the country. Following Joe Biden's win in 2020, negotiations to restore the deal were held in several rounds but reached a deadlock in 2022, with all parties stepping back from further talks. Iran has since increased its uranium enrichment process on at least two occasions until the election of President Masoud Pezeshkian, who led a campaign of engaging with the Western countries. 

"The new round of talks between Iran and the three European countries will likely take place in mid-January," Baghaei said, noting that these discussions would cover a broad range of issues beyond just nuclear matters.

The announcement follows November's discussions in Geneva, which marked the first direct talks between Iran and European representatives in two years.

Those meetings occurred despite tensions over a recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution against Iran, initiated by Britain, France, Germany and the US.

The diplomatic engagement comes after IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi's November visit to Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz.

During those meetings, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reasserted Iran's position that it neither possesses nor intends to develop nuclear weapons.

Negotiations between Iran and the E3 (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) have been a key part of the broader diplomatic efforts to address Iran's nuclear programme developments. These talks, often conducted within the framework of the E3/EU+3 (which also includes China, Russia, and the US), culminated in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), where Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

As part of the original nuclear deal, the US and Europe had offered sanctions relief in exchange for limitations on Iran's nuclear programme. 

Britain, France and Germany remain key interlocutors in these discussions, though the talks occur against a backdrop of broader international concerns about Iran's nuclear capabilities and regional influence.