The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell is expected to visit Iran for the first time on Monday amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

The bloc's new foreign affairs chief, who took office in December 2019, will meet President Hassan Rouhani, speaker of parliament Ali Larijani and foreign minister Javad Zarif in a bid to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Abbas Moussavi said Borrell "will visit Iran tomorrow for the first time since taking office. He is set to meet the foreign minister and other Iranian senior officials for consultations." Moussavi shared no details on when Borrell would be arriving or the duration of his stay in the Iranian capital.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which seeks to cap Iranian nuclear activities, has been under immense strain since the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

In response, Tehran started distancing itself from the deal and decided against adhering to the limits set on the number of centrifuges it can use to enrich uranium after President Donald Trump ordered the killing of an Iranian military commander in January.

Qasem Soleimani died in a US drone strike in Baghdad. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on Iraqi military bases hosting American and coalition troops. No casualties were reported.

On 24 January, Borrell called for a meeting of the remaining states party to the nuclear deal - France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China – in February in an effort to rescue the agreement.

All signatories "have reaffirmed their determination to preserve the accord, which is in everyone's interest," the EU envoy said at the time.

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