Mora has been trying to broker the return to the nuclear agreement with Iran, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for over a year now. On Wednesday, he held talks in Tehran with senior Iranian officials, including top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani. In the wake of the visit, Iran announced that it is ready to conclude a new nuclear agreement if the US immediately lifts sanctions.
"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.
Mora travelled with the EU Ambassador to the UN and the head of the Iran Division of the European External Action Service, and they too were detained.
Half an hour later, all three officials were released, but the police refused to give any explanation for the incident, Mora said, adding that the situation "seems a violation of the Vienna Convention".
JCPOA was signed by Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), as well as Germany and the European Union in 2015. Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
In April 2021, the remaining parties to the agreement, together with the US, began negotiations to restore the nuclear deal, working in Vienna. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced a pause in the Vienna talks "due to external factors" in March 2022, but soon resumed attempts to revive the talks.