DEAD SEA: The EU foreign policy chief told Iran’s foreign minister that Tehran should immediately halt military support for Russia and internal repression in Iran, reflecting worsening ties as diplomacy to revive the 2015 nuclear deal remains at a standstill.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said his meeting on Tuesday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Jordan, where both are due to attend a regional conference, was necessary “amidst deteriorating Iran-EU relations”.

While there is currently no sign of a return to talks, Borrell said the EU would continue to work with Iran on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal.

“Agreed we must keep communication open and restore #JCPOA on basis of Vienna negotiations,” Borrell said in a Tweet, referring to talks which have been stalled since September.

The climb to salvage the nuclear pact has grown steeper of late.

Iran has brutally cracked down on street protests, while Western states say Russia has used Iranian drones in its war in Ukraine, and Tehran has accelerated its nuclear programme, all of which raise the political price to giving Iran sanctions relief. An Iranian foreign ministry statement said Amirabdollahian “announced his country’s readiness to engage directly with Ukraine to alleviate any misunderstanding regarding Tehran’s position in the Ukraine war”.

Iran has acknowledged supplying Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

Abdollahian also voiced his condemnation of Western support of protests in Iran and the “illegal” sanctions against his country. He said Iran was ready to finalise the Vienna negotiations on the basis of the previous draft deal.