EU foreign policy chief sees Iran nuclear deal in ‘days’

TEHRAN: The European Union’s coordinator for talks to restore the Iran nuclear deal is due in Tehran on Sunday, as its foreign policy chief saw a restoration of the accord in "days".

Iran has been engaged in negotiations to revive the accord formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia directly, and the United States indirectly.

Parties have signalled for weeks that the negotiations are close to an agreement, but that "political decisions" are required from Tehran and Washington.

"We are very close but there are still some issues pending," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar.

"I cannot tell you when or how, but it is a matter of days."

The comments came as the EU diplomat chairing the Vienna talks, Enrique Mora, was due to arrive in Tehran, and as Iran confirmed that dropping its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from a US terror list was among the outstanding issues.

Mora, who coordinates indirect talks between Iran and the US, said ahead of his trip that the visit aimed to bridge the remaining differences.

"Working on closing the remaining gaps in the #ViennaTalks on the #JCPOA. We must conclude this negotiation. Much is at stake," he tweeted.

Western parties have been pushing for the talks to be concluded "urgently" given the accelerated pace of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Hours before Mora’s arrival, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran was pursuing the IRGC’s de-listing, despite senior Guards officials suggesting the issue be dropped if a deal otherwise ensured the country’s "national interests".

The Guards are the ideological arm of Iran’s military.

"The issue of the IRGC is definitely part of our negotiations," Amir-Abdollahian told state television.

"We have exchanged messages with the Americans in this regard. So this is one of the issues that is still on the agenda", he said.

Senior Guards officials have told the foreign ministry to "do whatever is necessary in line with the national interests of the country -- and if you reached a point (in the negotiations) where the issue of IRGC was raised, the IRGC issue should not be an obstacle for you", Amir-Abdollahian said.

But he added: "We will never allow ourselves... to tell the US side that we can let go of the issue of the IRGC, despite the permission given to us by the senior officials."

The most important outstanding issue with the US "is still the subject of how to delist real and legal Iranian persons from the sanctions list," Amir-Abdollahian said.

Iran began rolling back on most of its commitments under the accord after the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and began reimposing crippling economic sanctions.