TEHRAN - Enrique Mora, deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service, has said the European Union is of the opinion that reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is the only way forward.

“We still think that the JCPOA is the only way to deal with the Iranian nuclear problem, it is the only way for us,” Mora said in an interview with the Internationale Politik Quarterly (IPQ) published on February 28.

He added, “We want to keep the JCPOA on the table, but at the same time we are talking to the Iranians, we are helping the Ukrainians talk to Iranians and others and put an end to drone deliveries.”

Iran has been saying that it has never sold drones to Russia to be used in the Ukraine war. Iran has also said it sold a limited number of drones to Ukraine before the start of the war in Feb. 24, 2022.

Mora, who was representing the U.S. and three European countries in the nuclear talks with Iran until summer 2022, went on to say that “we are keeping all channels open.”

He also said the EU is “looking at the dynamics in the (Persian) Gulf—and when I say Gulf, I mean both sides of the (Persian) Gulf.”

The EU diplomat said the dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia is a source of worry. “There is a worrying dynamic because of the Iranian-Saudi antagonism.”

Moral also said the EU was criticized for being involved in talks with Iran and now it is being criticized for not holding “enough dialogue” with the country.

“We as the EU used to be criticized for talking to the Iranians, but more recently we are now being accused of not having enough dialogue with them. The focus is not just a question of strategy as expressed in our Strategic Partnership with the (Persian) Gulf announced in May 2022. If there is conflict in that part of the Middle East, then things can get very detrimental to the EU. We prefer to focus on that and try with all the countries.”