WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - A European official on Tuesday said he expected no difficulty persuading EU nations to maintain ballistic missile sanctions on Iran that are due to expire in October.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said he sees a window of opportunity by the end of 2023 to try to negotiate a de-escalatory nuclear deal with Iran.
In June, sources told Reuters that European diplomats had informed Iran they planned to retain EU ballistic missile sanctions set to expire in October under the nuclear deal, a step they said could provoke Iranian retaliation.
Keeping the EU sanctions would reflect Western efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them despite the collapse of the 2015 deal, which then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.
Asked if Britain, France and Germany, which were parties to the 2015 deal, had convinced the rest of EU to keep the ballistic missile sanctions, the European official replied: "It's nearly agreed.
Persons:
Donald Trump, It's, Joe Biden's, Arshad Mohammed, Paul Grant, Tim Ahmann, Deepa Babington
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