EU Wants to Keep JCPOA on Table

The European Union still thinks that the 2015 nuclear deal is the best and only way to address the Iranian nuclear issue, a senior EU official said. 
“We want to keep the JCPOA on the table,” Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service, said in an interview with IPQ. 
He used the acronym of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief. 
The JCPOA unraveled in 2018 when the United States withdrew and reimposed tough sanctions, prompting Tehran to react by rowing back on its commitments. 
EU-mediated negotiations to restore the deal have been stalled for months over final differences.  
“We have a text ready since last fall to restore, but the Iranians said they first wanted to close the safeguards issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Mora said. 
Iran demands the closure of the IAEA probe into nuclear material that it claims have been found at three old undeclared sites in the country. 
Tehran refutes the accusation, saying it is based on fabricated intelligence. It has provided explanations to the agency, which the director general has so far dismissed as uncredible. 
Mora, however, claimed that Tehran has done nothing to address the safeguards issue and has not provided the IAEA with any answers.
“We are talking to the Iranians… The situation is really bad. We are keeping all channels open, but it is difficult,” he said.