EU Foreign Chief: "Iran Nuclear Deal Restoration Could Be Reached Within Days"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said on the 26th (local time) that Iran and major world powers have come very close to reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement, according to major foreign media reports.

Borrell, who oversees EU foreign policy, said in a speech at the 'Doha International Forum' held in Qatar on the same day, "We are now very close to an agreement, and I hope it will be possible."

AFP reported that Borrell also said the negotiations to restore the Iran nuclear deal could be concluded within a few days. Separately from the forum, he told reporters, "There are still a few issues left," adding, "It's a matter of days."

Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary-General of the EU External Action Service and coordinator of the Iran nuclear negotiations, announced the day before that he would go to Tehran, the capital of Iran, on the 26th to meet with the Iranian negotiation representatives.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's Foreign Minister, said this week that if the United States takes a practical approach, the nuclear deal could be reached in a short period.

Minister Amir-Abdollahian said on Iranian state TV that the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps is also among Iran's top priorities.

However, U.S. officials are more cautious in their assessment of the nuclear deal restoration negotiations.

The Iran nuclear deal restoration talks have been deadlocked recently due to Russia's last-minute insistence that the restoration should not affect the relationship between Russia and Iran amid international sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

However, Russia later indicated that Moscow authorities would allow the nuclear deal to be revived, stating that it had received written guarantees that Russia would be a party to the agreement.

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal primarily aimed to control Iran's nuclear development in exchange for the lifting of sanctions by the U.S. and others.

However, after the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, Iran accelerated its nuclear development, and since the Biden administration took office, intensive negotiations to restore the nuclear deal have been underway over the past few months.