EU coordinator to visit Tehran to close gaps on JCPOA revival

In a post on his Twitter account on Friday, Mora said he will hold talks with Iran’s lead negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani in Tehran on Saturday as part of the efforts towards “closing the remaining gaps” in the talks in the Austrian capital.

Earlier this month, the Vienna talks, meant to resurrect the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), were paused for an undetermined period of time despite reports suggesting that they were in the “final stages.”

The United States, which is blamed for the current stalemate, is reluctant to take confidence-building measures due to its erroneous bias, procrastination in decision-making and excessive demands.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said the US needs to remove all illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic in a verifiable manner and offer guarantees that a new US administration will not breach the JCPOA again before it can rejoin the deal.

Speaking on Friday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan threatened that Washington will increase pressure on Tehran if the Vienna talks fail.

He said substantial progress has been made in resolving a number of issues necessary for the US to come back to the JCPOA “on a compliance-for-compliance basis.”

“There still are issues left. There still is work to be done,” he added. “We are still seeking a diplomatic outcome here that puts Iran’s nuclear program back in a box. Of course, if diplomacy doesn’t succeed, then we will work very closely with our international partners to increase the pressure on Iran.”