Iran, US begin indirect nuclear talks in Doha with EU mediation

Indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington have started in Doha, as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator met with European Union envoy Enrique Mora, who will shuttle between the American and Iranian sides.

Ali Bagheri Kani, met with Mora on Tuesday after earlier meeting Qatari officials with Tehran's local ambassador. 

Based in separate rooms in a hotel in Qatar's capital, Iran's Kani and US Iran special envoy Rob Malley are trying to break a months-long impasse that has stalled efforts to revive Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers.

Iran refuses to hold direct talks with its arch-foe, the United States, resulting in the "proximity" talks arrangement involving Mora.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday saying it “welcomed" hosting the talks.

It said the talks aimed to reestablish the deal “in a way that supports and enhances security, stability and peace in the region and opens new horizons for broader regional cooperation and dialogue with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

READ MORE: Nuclear talks: Qatar to host indirect Iran-US talks on reviving 2015 deal

Deal revival likely

The nuclear pact seemed near revival in March but talks were thrown into disarray, chiefly over Tehran's insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), its elite security force, from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

Last week, one Iranian and one European official said that Iran had dropped its demand for the removal of the IRGC's FTO sanctions, but still two issues, including one on sanctions, remained to be resolved.

Since the deal’s collapse, Iran has been running advanced centrifuges and rapidly growing stockpile of enriched uranium.

Earlier this month, Iran removed 27 surveillance cameras of the International Atomic Energy Agency  (IAEA) to pressure the West toward making a deal. 

In 2018 then-US president Donald Trump reneged on the deal, under which Iran restrained its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating its core nuclear limits about a year later.

READ MORE: Iran launches rocket with satellite carrier as nuclear talks to resume