FILE PHOTO: Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission attends a European Union Foreign Ministers council in Brussels, Belgium, December 9, 2019. REUTERS/Johanna Geron

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged a de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East in a talk with Iran’s Foreign Affairs Minister Javad Zarif over the weekend, an EU statement said on Sunday.

Days after the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani by the United States in Iraq, Borrell called on Iran to “carefully consider any reaction” and invited Zarif to Brussels to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the preservation of a nuclear deal with Tehran.