German police detain top nuclear negotiator Enrique Mora
There was no explanation for why Enrique Mora and his colleagues were arrested.
Enrique Mora, the European coordinator for the Iran nuclear talks, said on Friday that he had been briefly detained by German police along with his two colleagues in Frankfurt after returning from Iran, denouncing the act as a violation of the Vienna Convention.
#BREAKING | #EnriqueMora was detained with the #EU Ambassador to the #UN & the head of the #Iran Division of the #European External Action Service:
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 13, 2022
"Not a single explanation. An EU official on an official mission holding a diplomatic passport. Took out my passport & phones." pic.twitter.com/ISmn24npHo
Mora has been trying to mediate the nuclear agreement - the Join Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - with Iran for more than a year now.
On Wednesday, Mora held talks in Tehran with senior Iranian officials, including Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator. If the US immediately lifts sanctions, Iran will sign the deal.
"Retained by the German police at the Francfort airport on my way to Brussels, back from Teheran. Not a single explanation. An EU official on an official mission holding a Spanish diplomatic passport. Took out my passport and my phones," Mora said on Twitter.
Retained by the German police at the Francfort airport on my way to Brussels, back from Teheran. Not a single explanation. An EU official on an official mission holding a Spanish diplomatic passport. Took out my passport and my phones.
— Enrique Mora (@enriquemora_) May 13, 2022
Mora's two colleagues, the EU ambassador to the UN and the head of the Iran Division of the European External Action Service, were detained for half an hour, after which they were released with no explanation.
After the US withdrew from the JCPOA by ex-President Donald Trump in 2018, multiple parties - including the US - began negotiations to restore the nuclear deal in Vienna on April 2021.
One of Iran's main conditions for restoring the JCPOA is the removal of the IRGC from the US terror list and the lifting of all sanctions on Tehran.