Simon Coveney
Simon CoveneyReuters

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney is set to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran on Sunday in his role as a UN Security Council facilitator of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers, Reuters reports.

“Ireland is a strong supporter of the JCPOA. In our role as facilitator, Ireland is keen to maintain a close dialogue with all actors, and encourage all parties to return to full compliance with the agreement,” Coveney said in a statement, referring to the acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of the 2015 deal.

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.

In one of these moves, the Islamic Republic ended the implementation of the Additional Protocol of the 2015 nuclear deal that allows the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out snap-inspections at sites not declared to the agency.

The European parties to the agreement – Britain, France and Germany – had planned to introduce a resolution condemning Iran at the meeting of the IAEA board of governors, but dropped the resolution, citing signs of "good faith" on the Iranian side to explain the decision.

Ireland in January took up its seat as one of 15 members of the United Nations Security Council and the country has been appointed a facilitator of the 2015 deal for the Security Council, according to Reuters.

While Coveney plans to meet with Rouhani, Iran’s nuclear policy is decided by the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and not the president or the government.