The E3 nations meeting marks the first since Israel targeted Iran’s key nuclear and military sites in a 12-day war.

Germany, France and the United Kingdom will hold talks with Iran in Istanbul Friday, just days after the three European nations warned they would reimpose stiff sanctions on Tehran.

The warning from Iran’s deputy foreign minister came days before he is set to travel to Istanbul for nuclear talks with European counterparts.

Israel’s leadership views its 12-day war with Iran last month as a success – several Iranian military leaders were killed, Iran’s defensive military capabilities were weakened, and the United States was convinced to take part in a raid on the Iranian nuclear site at Fordow.

There are many paths to regime change in Iran. In 2020, two of us (Edelman and Takeyh) wrote an essay in Foreign Affairs in which we outlined a way to topple the Islamic Republic. At that time, we assumed that the use of force was off the table and that outside powers could only gradually erode the regime’s sources of strength.

Iran has no plans to abandon its nuclear programme including uranium enrichment despite the "severe" damage caused by US strikes to its facilities, the country's foreign minister said ahead of renewed talks with European powers.

An Iranian navy helicopter confronted a US Navy destroyer in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday morning, in what Tehran described as a deliberate approach by American forces toward its territorial waters.

Iran and Russia have a security agreement although Moscow did not come to Tehran's help when it was under attack by Israel and the United States