TEHRAN -- Iran and the EU agreed Thursday to hold further dialogue in Brussels aimed at resuming talks on the removal of U.S. sanctions and reviving a faltering 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and other countries.
The European Union envoy charged with coordinating talks, Enrique Mora, met with Iranian deputy foreign minister Ali Baqeri or several hours.
“At the end of this meeting, the two parties agreed to continue dialogue on questions of mutual interest in the coming days in Brussels,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement, which noted that Mora said the EU was “ready to collaborate with Iran and the other parties”.
The talks coincided with a visit by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who on Wednesday warned of “other options” if diplomacy fails.
At the same time, his visiting Zionist counterpart threatened to use force.
The 2015 nuclear deal, which gave Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear energy program, has been on life support since 2018, when then U.S. president Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out.
Trump reimposed draconian sanctions while Iran, whose nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, gradually rolled back its own commitments.
Mora’s trip to Tehran came with pressure mounting from EU countries as well as the United States for a swift resumption of talks on Washington’s return to the agreement.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting

with Mora, Bagheri, in charge of the nuclear file for Iran, tweeted that the “removal of cruel sanctions” would be on the agenda.
Talks were held earlier this year in Vienna between Iran and the remaining parties to the agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
The talks have been on hold since a June election in Iran led to a change of president.
New President Ebrahim Raisi – a former judiciary chief – has made it clear that the end result of the negotiations must be guaranteeing Iran’s national interests.
Tehran has been seeking European guarantees that there will be no repetition of Trump’s unilateral withdrawal.
On Friday, Reuters quoted an unnamed EU official as saying that Iran’s new negotiating team wants to discuss the texts that will be put forward when it meets with the EU in Brussels in the next few weeks.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly said it will return to the negotiations “soon”. Western diplomats had hoped the Vienna talks might resume before the end of October.
However, after Mora’s visit, Iran’s foreign ministry said it would hold talks in the coming days with the EU in Brussels.
“They insisted that they don’t want talks for talks, they want talking with practical results and with a final agreement on how to bring JCPOA (the nuclear deal) back to life,” the unnamed EU official was quoted as saying.
Describing a meeting in Brussels as a “good idea”, the official said it would give both sides the opportunity to go through the texts on the table from June and clarify questions that Iran’s new negotiating team may have.

China: U.S. Must Remove All Illegal Sanctions

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Thursday that the United States should remove the entire illegal sanctions on Iran.
Zhao made the remarks in response U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley that Washington was ready to consider “all options” against the Islamic Republic.
“China always believes that resuming the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA is the only effective way to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. Facts have proved time and again that sanctions and pressure lead nowhere, and dialogue and consultation is the right way forward,” Zhao told reporters.
“Iran has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to the JCPOA and its readiness to return to negotiations on the resumption of compliance. Relevant parties should respond to Iran’s reasonable demands by taking concrete actions, push for an early resumption of negotiations and strive for new progress,” he added.
Zhao said, “As the one who caused the renewed tension on the Iranian nuclear issue, the U.S. should correct its wrong policy of ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran, lift all illegal sanctions against Iran and measures of ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ over a third party, refrain from imposing new Iran-related sanctions and bring the JCPOA back on track at an early date.”