Possibility of returning to Iran nuclear deal 'shrinking', says EU foreign policy chief

PETRA, JORDAN – JUNE 2: High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Relations and Security Policy Josep Borrell (C) speaks during the 14th Jordan-European Union Association Council meeting on bilateral relations in Dead Sea region, Petra, Jordan on June 2, 2022. ( Mohamad Salaheddin – Anadolu Agency )

The EU foreign policy chief on Saturday warned that the prospect of restoring the Iran nuclear deal is “shrinking”, Andolu Agency reported.

“The possibility to strike a deal and return to #JCPOA is shrinking. But we still can do it with an extra effort,” Josep Borrell said on Twitter, following a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Borrell added that he stands ready “any time” to facilitate a solution to the outstanding issues.

Spoke again to @Amirabdolahian.

The possibility to strike a deal and return to #JCPOA is shrinking. But we still can do it with an extra effort.

As coordinator, I stand ready any time to facilitate a solution to the latest outstanding issues.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) June 4, 2022

Marathon talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), are currently stalled due to key disagreements between Tehran and Washington.

On May 25, US Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley, who led more than a year of indirect talks with Iran, said that the prospects of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are “tenuous” at best.

Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018.

READ: Israel PM publishes Iran intel documents alleging it spied on UN nuclear agency

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.