EU negotiator fails to make nuclear talks breakthrough on visit to Tehran

EU and Iranian officials meeting in Tehran have failed to agree on a timetable for the resumption of nuclear deal negotiations with the US.

But they will try to come to an agreement in Brussels in the coming days.

Talks in Vienna on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have been on hold since the Iranian election in June, in which Ebrahim Raisi won the presidency.

US and Iranian officials have been in Vienna for previous rounds of talks, without meeting directly.

EU spokesman Peter Stano said the visit to Tehran by Enrique Mora, who co-ordinated the 2015 deal, underlined the urgency of the matter.

“We are awaiting the Iranians’ response,” he said.

“Josep Borrell is in Washington, where he is meeting with his American counterpart Antony Blinken over the Iranian nuclear accord.

“We shall see the outcome of these discussions.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it had “serious doubts” about Washington’s willingness to commit to the terms of the deal that former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from three years ago.

The agreement gave Iran sanctions relief in return for limits on its nuclear programme.

But Mr Trump abandoned it and reimposed heavy economic measures.

In response, Tehran has repeatedly breached the limits set out by the accord, and its nuclear programme has yielded higher quantities of enriched uranium.

The nuclear deal also gave international monitors access to Iranian nuclear plants, but their inspections have been limited since February.

European and US officials have called for the Vienna negotiations to continue.

Before his arrival in Tehran, Mr Mora said it was “a critical point in time”. He said he would “raise the urgency” that the Vienna meetings recommence. “It’s crucial to pick up talks from where we left last June to continue diplomatic work,” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Iran on Wednesday that the “runway is getting shorter” to resume the talks, but said he still favoured diplomacy as the best way to resolve their dispute.