Austria's Schallenberg meets President Rouhani

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran on Sunday, amid efforts by European countries to keep alive Iran's nuclear agreement with world powers.

Earlier in the day, Schallenberg held talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Tehran.

Last week, Schallenberg said, after a meeting with his German counterpart, that he would be taking a "European message" to Tehran.

Also in early February, Josep Borrell, the EU's Foreign Policy Chief, traveled to Iran and held talks with senior Iranian officials.

Tensions have been escalating steadily since 2018, when US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.

The Trump administration reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran as part of its "maximum pressure campaign" on the Islamic republic.

Iran since has begun breaking terms of the 2015 deal limiting its enrichment of uranium.

The remaining signatories - the European trio of Germany, France and Britain, plus Russia and China - have been trying to keep the deal afloat.

While Austria is not part of the agreement, the deal was negotiated in large part in Vienna.