Iran is willing to resume nuclear talks at an early date: EU

The European Union has said that Iran is willing to resume nuclear talks at an early date. The statement came after the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met Iran’s new Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on the sideline of the UN General Assembly in New York. In a press release, European Union said that the Iranian Foreign Minister assured of the willingness to resume negotiations at an early date. The EU High Representative Borrell expressed the need for a quick resumption of the Vienna talks. It may be recalled that the talks to resolve the deadlock over Teheran’s nuclear program between Iran, US and EU has been delayed on a number of occasions. The move has gathered momentum as the world leaders are meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.

The discussions, which involve the remaining parties seeking to persuade Washington to rejoin the deal and Iran to return to its nuclear commitments, have been stalled since June, when ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi was elected as Iran’s president. EU-mediated negotiations began in Vienna in April aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers — an accord left hanging by a thread after former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and ramped up sanctions. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said he expected a resumption of the talks “in the coming weeks,” without giving an exact date.