The European Union is making a last-ditch attempt to salvage the Iran nuclear deal and break the deadlock, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the Financial Times he was looking for a “middle way” to break the deadlock, which threatens to sabotage more than a year of European diplomatic efforts.
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The talks have been suspended since March, mainly due to Iran’s insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the US Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) list.
Borrell envisions a scenario in which the IRGC designation is lifted but kept in place in other parts of the organization, which has multiple branches and a sprawling business empire, the FT reported.
The foreign policy chief also said he wanted EU negotiator Enrique Mora to visit Tehran to discuss the issue, but added that Iran ‘is very reluctant’ and described the diplomatic push as “the last bullet”, according to FT.
The report also quotes Borrell as saying the negotiators would not give Iran an ultimatum.
Reuters reported last week that Iran’s clerical leaders, emboldened by soaring oil prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are in no rush to revive the 2015 nuclear pact with world powers to ease sanctions against its energy-dependent economy.
Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief.
Read more:
Rising oil prices buy Iran time in nuclear talks: officials
Growing frustration among US diplomats at the State Department
Iran will seek to manipulate UN visit: rights groups
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