Iran and the European Union (EU) agreed on Thursday to hold further dialogue in Brussels aimed at resuming talks on the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers, Tehran said, according to an AFP report.

The EU envoy charged with coordinating talks on reviving the Iran nuclear deal, Enrique Mora, visited Tehran on Thursday and met with Iranian deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri for several hours.

“At the end of this meeting, the two parties agreed to continue dialogue on questions of mutual interest in the coming days in Brussels,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement, which noted that Mora said the EU was “ready to collaborate with Iran and the other parties”.

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.

The previous Iranian government, headed by former President Hassan Rouhani, had been holding indirect talks with the Biden administration on a return to the agreement.

The negotiations were adjourned on June 20, two days after Ebrahim Raisi won Iran’s presidential election, and no date has been set for a resumption of dialogue.

Mora’s trip to Tehran came with pressure mounting from EU countries as well as the United States for a swift resumption of talks on Washington’s return to the agreement.

Ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Mora, Bagheri, in charge of the nuclear file for Iran, tweeted that the “removal of cruel sanctions” would be on the agenda.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, last week said he expects negotiations on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to restart in Vienna soon.

“We are now finalizing consultations on this matter and will soon restore our negotiations in Vienna,” he told reporters in Moscow after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price later said in response, “We hope their definition of soon matches our definition of soon.”

Iran, EU to hold further dialogue on nuclear deal  https://amos37.com/iran-eu-to-hold-further-dialogue-on-nuclear-deal/

Josh Toupos

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