Senior German diplomat in Tehran for nuclear deal talks

A senior German diplomat is heading to Tehran to press Iran to continue to respect the landmark nuclear deal, despite the unilateral withdrawal of the US and increasing pressure from Washington.

Tensions are soaring in the Mideast recently as the White House earlier this month sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceived from Iran.

Berlin’s Foreign Ministry says Political Director Jens Ploetner will hold talks with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to try salvage the nuclear deal signed in 2015 in Vienna.

“The situation in the Persian Gulf and the region, and the situation surrounding the Vienna nuclear agreement, is extremely serious,” the German Foreign Ministry says in an email to The Associated Press. “There is a real risk of escalation — including due to misunderstandings or an incident. In this situation, dialogue is very important.”

Relations between Washington and Tehran plummeted a year ago when Trump pulled out of the multinational agreement negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama under which Tehran drastically scaled back its nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief.

Tensions have ratcheted up further this month, with Washington announcing additional economic measures against Tehran, before deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceived from Iran.

— Agencies