VietJoy

The European Union's top diplomat is expected to visit Tehran on February 3, Iran's Foreign Ministry has said.

EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell will meet Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other Iranian officials, the ministry said.

Borrell's trip is seen as the latest attempt by the EU to save the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

U.S. President Donald Trump in May 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

The five remaining parties to the accord — Britain, France, and Germany, plus China and Russia -- have pledged to keep the accord alive.

Tehran has gradually scaled back its commitments under the agreement.

After the U.S. killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in January, Iran announced that it would no longer respect limits set on how many centrifuges it can use to enrich uranium.

Borrell met with Zarif on the sidelines of a conference in India on January 16 to press Tehran to "preserve" the increasingly fragile nuclear agreement, according to a statement released in Brussels.

Borrell told Zarif that the deal was "more important than ever," given rising tensions in the Middle East, the statement said.