Iran Detains 2 European Nationals as EU Nuclear Negotiator Visits Tehran

Iran detained two European nationals while an envoy from the European Union was in the country to reignite the negotiations for a nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and the world powers. The arrested European visitors are accused of “organizing chaos and social disorder aimed at destabilizing” the republic, according to state television. The report on Wednesday, which cited Iran’s intelligence ministry, did not name their nationalities. They are accused of meeting with the “illegal Council of Teachers League,” whose members have protested for higher salaries, The Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, the European Union’s Iran nuclear talks coordinator Enrique Mora was in Iran on Wednesday and met with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani. At the same time, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted his support for the negotiations, which began more than a year ago. “Talks for lifting sanctions in reaching good, strong and stable deal in being pursued in its right direction while observing Iran’s red lines,” he wrote in the tweet. The talks were put on hold in March after Iran insisted as part of the final agreement that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization list.