The United States and the European Union are publicly at odds over whether Iran can play a constructive role in Yemen peace talks, further splitting the two allies regarding how best to deal with Tehran.

The Donald Trump administration had asked the UN to reject Iran’s request to have a senior Foreign Ministry official attend this week’s talks in Sweden between President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government and the Houthi rebels, Al-Monitor first reported last week. On Monday, that same official — Hossein Jaberi Ansari — addressed the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, which subsequently praised Iran’s endorsement of the peace talks under the auspices of UN envoy Martin Griffiths.

“This is the result of the dialogue we have put in place with Iran on regional issues,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters after the meeting between Ansari and representatives from Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy. “Iran has used its influence on the Houthis to start discussions in Sweden, under the UN auspices — something we have very much insisted on and supported.”

Why it matters: The European Union has placed the survival of the 2015 nuclear deal, despite the US withdrawal, at the heart of its Iran policy. Mogherini said Monday that the EU’s “full and continued implementation” of the deal served as the “basis for our regional dialogue with Iran” on topics including Yemen, the war in Syria and Iran’s ballistic missile program. She added that an EU-Iran trade vehicle to circumvent US sanctions could be in place by the end of the year.