The European Union has been making a last-ditch attempt to save the Iran nuclear deal and break a deadlock.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told the Financial Times on Saturday that he was seeking a “middle way” to end the impasse, which threatens to scupper more than a year of European diplomatic efforts.

Talks have been on hold since March, chiefly over Iran's insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Tehran's elite security force, from the US Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) list.

Borrell is considering a scenario whereby the designation on the IRGC is lifted, but kept in place on other parts of the organisation, which has several arms and a sprawling business empire, the FT reported.

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'The last bullet'

The foreign policy chief also said he wanted EU negotiator Enrique Mora to visit Tehran to discuss the issue, but added that Iran “was very much reluctant” and described the diplomatic push as “the last bullet”, according to FT.

The report also cited Borrell as saying that negotiators would not give Iran an ultimatum.

Iran's rulers, emboldened by an oil price surge since the Ukraine conflict began, are reportedly in no rush to revive the 2015 nuclear pact with world powers to ease sanctions on its energy-reliant economy.

Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions

READ MORE:US insists on keeping IRGC on terror list in Iran talks bid