EU foreign policy chief says 'pause needed' in Iran nuke talks

VIENNA -- The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Friday that a pause is needed in talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), citing "external factors."

"I will, with my team, continue to be in touch with all JCPOA participants and the US to overcome the current situation and to close the agreement," he tweeted, while noting that a final text of an agreement is "essentially ready and on the table."

In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, plus Germany) and the European Union.

However, former US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the pact in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran. This prompted Iran to drop some of its nuclear commitments and advance its previously halted nuclear programs.

Since April 2021, Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties have held eight rounds of marathon talks in Vienna to restore the deal.