EU Insists On JCPOA As ‘Best Possible’ Framework For Iran

European Union foreign policy mediator Enrique Mora has reiterated that the 2015 nuclear deal still is the “best possible” framework to address Iran’s nuclear program.

Mora, the deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service (EEAS), said in a tweet on Friday, “For the EU, the JCPOA is the best possible, if not the only, framework to address the legitimate non-proliferation concerns of the international community on the Iranian nuclear program."

"I had a serious and constructive meeting with Mora in Doha. We exchanged views and discussed a range of issues including negotiations on sanctions lifting," Iran’s deputy foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani also said on Twitter, without elaborating.

The comments were made after meetings between Mora and Bagheri-Kani in Qatar on Wednesday in what was seen as an attempt to tackle nuclear talks suspended since last September.

Tehran did not sign on to a compromise draft agreement the EU had presented in mid-2022 to revive the JCPOA.

The United States began to say in October that it was not pursuing the JCPOA talks, but recently there have been a flurry of reports about Washington discussing a limited or interim unwritten deal with Islamic Republic, prompting Congressional opposition.

The deal is said to be based on partial financial incentives to Iran in return for not enriching uranium beyond 60 percent, but leaving Tehran with the potential means to develop nuclear weapons.

Bagheri Kani said last week that he had met his British, German and French counterparts in the United Arab Emirates to discuss "a range of issues and mutual concerns".