EU envoy in Tehran to help finalize stalled nuclear deal talk

Enrique Mora, deputy secretary-general of the European External Action Service and coordinator for nuclear talks, arrived in the Iranian capital on Saturday afternoon and is reportedly expected to visit Washington shortly after, Al Jazeera reported.

“We must conclude this negotiation. Much is at stake,” Mora tweeted prior to his trip, during which he will meet with Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani.

The visit comes more than two weeks after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for a pause in the talks in Vienna that began in April 2021 due to “external factors”.

Most actions required to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is formally known, have been agreed upon. But Iran and the US have yet to finalize the agreement which seemed imminent earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters on Friday that Washington is “still seeking a diplomatic outcome here that puts Iran’s nuclear program back in a box” but is ready to work with its partners to increase pressure on Tehran if diplomacy fails.

If an agreement is reached, it will lift harsh US sanctions imposed on Iran, he deed.