At a meeting with the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, in New York on Monday 23 September, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that EU-Iran relations were “at its lowest point ever”.
According to a European source, Mr Michel raised a number of EU concerns, including the issue of human rights and the imprisonment of European nationals in Iran. Iran’s role in the region and its “destabilising” support for armed and terrorist groups, the delivery of arms and missiles to Russia - which Iran denies - and Iran’s nuclear programme were among the concerns raised.
While President Michel said he was ready to re-engage in nuclear diplomacy, the Iranian President, according to this source, reiterated that his country did not want a nuclear programme and was not responsible for the failure of the dialogue, unlike the United States.
Mr Michel also reiterated the importance of dialogue to avoid escalation. On the same day, the High Representative of the Union, Josep Borrell, who is due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later this week, also stressed the importance of maintaining a line of communication with Iran. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)