Top EU and Iran negotiators meet in Tehran to resolve gaps in talks

Aveen Karim

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Top European Union (EU) negotiator met with Iran’s chief negotiator in Tehran on Sunday to seal the unresolved gaps in the Vienna talks aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, which officials say are close to the finish line.

The EU’s coordinator for the talks Enrique Mora arrived in Tehran a night before meeting Ali Bagheri Kani, Iranian state media reported on Sunday, adding that Mora is expected to meet with other Iranian officials.

Bagheri stressed that an agreement could be finalized “if the American side was realistic,” according to IRNA. He also reiterated that Iran was determined to reach an agreement in Vienna. 

Mora also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian shortly after his meeting with Bagheri, with little information being revealed so far. 

Ahead of his visit to the Iranian capital, Mora tweeted “we must conclude this negotiation. Much is at stake.” 

 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at the Doha Forum on Saturday that a final agreement was “very close” and could take place “within days,” AFP reported.

Iran and world powers, including the US, have held talks for almost a year aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, with Iran insisting that the US must lift its crippling sanctions, including those on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and to provide a guarantee that future US administrations will not be able to withdraw from the deal.

Also speaking at the forum, US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley said on Sunday that the sanctions on the IRGC would remain in place even if an agreement to restore the deal is reached.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met top Israeli officials in Jerusalem on Sunday ahead of talks with Israel and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco. The talks are aimed at presenting a united front against what they describe as Iranian aggression the region. 

During the meeting in Jerusalem, Blinken stated that both the US and Israel were committed to ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, a matter which Iran has repeatedly denied it was seeking.