Iranian, EU nuclear negotiators meet in Jordan – Iranian media

Reuters

17:44 JST, December 20, 2022

DUBAI (Reuters) — Iran’s foreign minister and top nuclear negotiator met with the European Union foreign policy chief and the EU official coordinating nuclear talks with Iran in Jordan on Tuesday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani met EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and nuclear talks coordinator Enrique Mora ahead of a regional conference being hosted by Jordan.

IRNA gave no further details about the meeting.

Talks to restore Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord have been at a stalemate since September. Western powers accuse the Islamic Republic of raising unreasonable demands after all sides appeared to be nearing a deal.

Borrell said last week there was no better option than the nuclear accord to ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, adding that “we have to continue engaging as much as possible in trying to revive this deal”.

The climb to salvage the pact has grown steeper this year. Iran has brutally cracked down on street protests, Western states say Russia has used Iranian drones in its war in Ukraine, and Tehran has accelerated its nuclear programme, all of which raise the political price to giving Iran sanctions relief.

On Monday, U.N. nuclear watchdog officials left Iran after talks with the head of its nuclear energy organisation, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

It did not say whether they addressed an impasse over uranium traces at undeclared sites.

The issue has been an obstacle to progress in wider talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, meant to curb Iran’s disputed uranium enrichment programme in return for lifting sanctions imposed by Washington after exiting the pact in 2018.