Negotiations for the Iran nuclear deal will resume in Vienna on Tuesday, diplomats said on Monday, citing progress made in recent weeks by negotiators in seeking to revive the historic 2015 accord.
The parties to the agreement have been negotiating since last year in Vienna with indirect US participation. Talks were recently halted at the end of last month, and the negotiators returned to their capitals for consultations.
EU spokesman Alain Matton, who chaired the discussion, tweeted: “The 8th round of the Vienna Dialogue … China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Iran and the United States will resume tomorrow in Vienna.”
After months of stalemate, progress has been made in recent weeks to revive a 2015 agreement that was supposed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, a goal it has always denied pursuing.
Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran, prompting the Islamic Republic to back down from its commitments under the agreement and pursue its nuclear activities.
‘defining moment’
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Washington Post An interview published online on Monday said the successful conclusion of the talks “depends on Iran”.
“We gave them a clear message that now is the time for decisions and progress, not prolonging the process,” he was quoted as saying.
“It’s a decisive moment, and we hope they use the opportunity. We don’t have much time left.”
America’s stance harmful
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that “the United States will bring it to Vienna tomorrow, to determine when we can reach an agreement”.
“We have made significant progress in various areas of the Vienna talks” including guarantees that a new US administration that Iran wants will not violate the agreement once again, Khatibzadeh told reporters.
“We hope that the positive statements will be converted into commitments in action and that we will be able to reach a good and credible agreement in Vienna,” Mr Khatibzadeh said.
Iran’s top security official, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani, said on Sunday that Washington and Tehran have so far failed to strike a “balance” in their commitments during the Vienna talks.
The US State Department said on Friday it was waiving sanctions on Iran’s civilian nuclear program in a technical step needed to return to the JCPOA.
The exemption allows other countries and companies to participate in Iran’s civil nuclear program without triggering US sanctions on them in the name of promoting security and non-proliferation.
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