TEHRAN – The Islamic Republic of Iran and the European Union held their third round of high level talks in Tehran on Monday.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi and Helga Schmid, the EU’s deputy political director, headed the meeting.

Iran and the EU have already held two rounds of talks in Tehran and Brussels since the implementation of the nuclear deal in January 2016.

The Iran-EU talks focus on issues such as economy, environment, human rights, transportation, energy and latest developments in the Middle East.

The Iran-EU talks are scheduled to be continued in Isfahan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Monday that the Iranian and EU officials plan to discuss nuclear cooperation on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed by Iran, the European Union, Germany and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia in July 2015.

In his new Iran strategy declared on October 13, U.S. President Donald Trump decertified the nuclear deal and asked Congress to decide about the fate of the agreement. 

Congress now has to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the deal. Trump said if Congress does nothing he himself will terminate the deal.

The EU has expressed support for the nuclear deal.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said on November 10 that the European Union will make sure that the nuclear deal “will continue to be fully implemented by all, in all its parts”.

NA/PA