Ali Bagheri Kani, the chief of Iran’s nuclear negotiation team, announced on Wednesday that his country and EU states reached an agreement about the former’s return to the talks in Vienna, aiming to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iranian top negotiator’s remarks came following the meeting which he held with EU officials in Brussels.
After the meeting with the EU delegation, headed by Enrique Mora, who coordinates the Vienna talks, Kani wrote on Twitter, reading, “Had a very serious & constructive dialogue with Enrique Mora on the essential elements for successful negotiations. We agree to start negotiations before the end of November.”
Yet, any specific date has not been announced regarding when the stalled talks would be resumed.
On the issue, Kani said, “Exact date would be announced in the course of the next week.”
The announcement came during Western countries’ worries about Iran’s nuclear advancement soars.
On Monday, following his tour to the Gulf countries, US Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, said, “We are in a critical phase of the efforts to see whether we can revive the JCPOA,” referring to the deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Malley also underlined that Tehran’s excuses for avoiding talks are about to deplete.
Although the sides gathered six times in Vienna, diplomats familiar with the talks, stated that there are significant gaps between Iran and P4+1 countries that needed to be filled before the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
US sanctions on Iran and Tehran’s nuclear limits are among the key issues that needed to be resolved.
Speaking at a news conference, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “America’s return to the deal does not matter to us. What is important is that the outcome of talks be in Iran’s favor.”
The Iranian FM also reiterated his country’s demand for the release of its assets frozen by US sanctions.
“Biden has to put his goodwill into practice by for instance releasing $10 billion of Iran’s blocked assets,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
