Nuclear energy in Iran

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran's space program, saying the recent explosion  is a sign of rocket work.

"The United States will not allow Iran to use its space launch program as a cover for the progress of its ballistic missile programs," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

The informal EU foreign ministers' meeting in Helsinki ends in today.

The agenda of the first diplomats includes a discussion on the Arctic and a working session with the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey on regional cooperation.

The protests in Hong Kong are also expected to be discussed today.

Iran will not talk to the United States until all sanctions imposed on Tehran are lifted, President Hassan Rouhani said on Aug. 27, a day after President Donald Trump said he would meet his Iranian counterpart to try to end a nuclear standoff.

Iran's foreign minister made a flying visit for talks with host France at the G7 summit on Aug. 25, as Paris ramped up efforts to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington, a dramatic diplomatic move that the White House said had surprised them.

Iran is not interested in negotiating with Washington, but if there is mediation, it should focus on the US returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, which they left last year. This was stated by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, quoted by BTA.

Iran's president lambasted new U.S. sanctions by the Trump administration targeting the country's foreign minister, describing the move Thursday as "childish" and a barrier to diplomacy.

As of today, the United States' decision to withdraw from the nuclear weapons treaty concluded with Russia in the 1987, enters into force.

The nuclear deal deals with medium to low range missiles, and signing it was key to the end of the Cold War.

The United States on July 31 imposed sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, targeting the country's top spokesman and potentially hurting chances of diplomatic talks amid rising tensions between the two countries.

European Union nations threw their diplomatic weight behind the unraveling Iran nuclear deal on July 15, trying to rescue the pact from collapsing under U.S. pressure.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on July 15 that there was still time to save the Iran nuclear deal and that despite the United States being Britain's closest ally it disagreed on how to handle the Iran crisis.