EU top diplomat Borrell visits Iran ‘to de-escalate tensions’ over nuclear program

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell held talks on Monday in the Iranian capital on a mission aimed at lowering tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Borrell’s trip, his first to Iran since taking office, follows a spike in tensions between Washington and Tehran following the January 3 assassination in Baghdad of a top Iranian general in a US drone strike.

The two-day visit opened with a meeting with FM Mohammad Javad Zarif, ahead of talks with President Hassan Rouhani and parliament speaker Ali Larijani.

The trip will allow Borrell “to convey the EU’s strong commitment to preserve” the 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and to discuss cooperation between the EU and Iran, his office said.