EU’s top diplomat says Iran nuclear deal at ‘critical juncture’

BRUSSELS — EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warns the Iran nuclear deal is at a “critical juncture,” as Tehran’s moves to breach it threaten efforts to get the US back on board.

“We have seen very concerning developments on the nuclear side as well as new rounds of US sanctions,” Borrell writes to EU foreign ministers in a letter seen by AFP today.

“That risks undermining diplomatic efforts, including ours, to facilitate a US return to the JCPOA and to bring back Iran to the full implementation of its JCPOA commitments,” says the letter sent ahead of a meeting of the top diplomats yesterday.

The JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is the instrument agreed to implement the 2015 accord.

The EU and other signatories to the pact are pushing to get US President-elect Joe Biden to return to the agreement after scrambling to keep it alive following Donald Trump’s withdrawal over two years ago.

But they face a struggle to get Iran and the US back on the same page after Trump reimposed harsh sanctions and Tehran responded by breaching limits set by the deal.