November 28, The Iran Project - The fourth round of high-level political talks between Iran and the European Union was held in Brussels on Monday (Nov. 26), chaired by Araqchi and Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Schmid.

According to Iran’s Media Diplomacy Center at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a delegation from Iran’s parliament (Ms. Parvaneh Salahshouri and Mr. Abdolrezah Mesri) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the director generals of various departments of the European Commission participated in the talks.

On European side, the EEAS, the European Commission as well as the EU Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis and the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles De Kerchove took part in the High-Level Dialogue.

During the talks, Araqchi stressed the importance of preserving the multilateral nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to promote regional and international peace and security.

He said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) once again reaffirmed the Islamic Republic's full commitment to its undertakings under the nuclear deal.

The Iranian official also pointed to the need to accelerate effective, durable and mutual implementation of the commitments by other signatories to the deal following US withdrawal from the agreement.

He noted any delay in meeting the commitments will pose a serious challenge to the important achievement and will make Iran to decide based on its own independence and interests.

Elaborating on the event, the European Union External Action Service issued a statement on Tuesday and said:

"This meeting was part of the regular exchanges between the EU and Iran. The agenda focused on bilateral issues, such as trade, energy, transport, environment, migration, humanitarian assistance, drug policy, education, culture, research, as well as counter-terrorism and regional issues, notably Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Afghanistan."

In an interview with IRNA on the same day, Araqchi asserted that recently re-imposed US sanctions had served to make his country’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers “untenable”, warning that Tehran itself could withdraw from the agreement.

He described the 2015 deal as a “great political achievement”, reiterating Iran’s commitment to complying with the deal’s terms, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Iran and the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) signed the deal in July of 2015.

Brussels, on Monday (Nov. 26), was also host to another significant meeting between Iran and EU on International Nuclear Cooperation.