IRAN is set to meet European Union chiefs on Thursday, with hopes of an “effective step forward” to the resumption of stalled talks that could see an end to US-imposed sanctions.

Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a press conference today that this week’s meeting is the continuation of discussions held in Tehran last week, which he described as “good and constructive.”

The country’s deputy foreign minister Ali Baqeri-Kani will meet the EU deputy foreign policy chief, Enrique Mora, in Brussels.

It is hoped that the talks could lead to renewed meetings between Iran and signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Six rounds of discussions had been held in Vienna, though were suspended earlier this year, with Tehran and the United States refusing to meet face to face.

Mr Khatibzadeh insisted that there were “no preconditions” for their resumption, though said they must be constructive and not “talks for the sake of talks,” with no outcome.

Former US president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear deal in 2018, imposing punitive sanctions on Iran as part of a broader maximum-pressure strategy aimed at regime change.