TEHRAN (AFP) – Talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal will resume within days after being stalled for months, the European Union’s (EU) top diplomat Josep Borrell (AFP; pic below) said yesterday during a surprise visit to Tehran.
The negotiations began in April last year but hit a snag in March amid differences between Tehran and Washington, notably over a demand by Iran that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be removed from a United States (US) terror list.
“We will resume the talks on the JCPOA in the coming days… I mean quickly, immediately,” Borrell told a news conference in the Iranian capital, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The landmark nuclear deal has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and began imposing harsh economic sanctions.
The administration of incumbent US President Joe Biden has sought to return to the agreement, saying it would be the best path.
“We agreed today that this visit will be followed by the resumption of negotiations also between Iran and the US facilitated by my team to try to solve the last outstanding issues,” said Borrell.
The EU foreign policy chief was speaking after a two-hour meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, on the second day of a previously unannounced visit to Tehran.
Amir-Abdollahian confirmed the resumption of the negotiations.
“We will try to solve the problems and differences through the talks that will resume soon,” Amir-Abdollahian said, adding the key for Tehran was “the full economic benefit of Iran from the agreement concluded in 2015”.
“We hope that specifically the US, this time around, realistically and fairly makes responsible and committed efforts in the negotiations and on the path to reach the final point of the agreement,” he added.
On the eve of Borrell’s trip, the US pointman on Iran, Robert Malley, had “reiterated firm US commitment to come back to the deal” over a meal with the EU diplomatic chief, according to the EU’s coordinator for the talks, Enrique Mora.
“We remain committed to the path of meaningful diplomacy, in consultation with our European partners,” Malley said in a tweet.
France, one of the six world powers that agreed the 2015 deal, had on Friday appealed to Iran to “seize this diplomatic opportunity to conclude now, while this is still possible”.
Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that Iran was “serious” about reaching an agreement while calling for “realism from the American side”.
The nuclear deal Iran reached with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US gave it relief from sanctions in return for guarantees it could not develop an atomic weapon.
