Today, Wednesday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and new chief nuclear negotiator Ali Baqeri is meeting in Brussels with the European negotiator Enrique Mora, who visited Tehran on October 14, in hopes of setting a specific date for the resumption of nuclear negotiations in Vienna. According to the spokesperson for the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, Peter Stano, there are no plans for Josep Borrell to meet with the Iranian negotiator.
Iran has been procrastinating on returning to nuclear talks, and the Russian representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency publicly urged Iranian officials to clarify what they mean by "soon" when asked about their return to the negotiating table. An Iranian delegation led by Baqeri arrived in Brussels on Tuesday evening in preparation for bilateral talks between Iran and European countries regarding the Iranian nuclear file.
It is noteworthy that Iran and the six countries began negotiations in April to revive the agreement that then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from three years ago, before re-imposing sanctions that crippled Iran's economy. In response to Trump's re-imposition of sanctions, Tehran violated the agreement by rebuilding its stockpiles of enriched uranium and refining it to a higher fissile purity, as well as installing advanced centrifuges to accelerate production.
Talks stalled after the Iranian presidential elections in June, which saw President Ebrahim Raisi elected. Meanwhile, the United States and European countries are urging Tehran to return to negotiations, warning that time is running out as Iran's uranium enrichment program advances beyond the limits set by the nuclear agreement. Iran has repeatedly stated it will return to negotiations but has not yet specified a date.
