Nuclear Talks Closer Than Ever to Deal

Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have come closer than ever to an agreement, but essential issues remain to be negotiated, the top Iranian negotiator said on Thursday.
“We achieved good, tangible progress on the different issues... We are closer than ever to an agreement but there are still essential issues under negotiations,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was quoted as telling Al Jazeera television.
Then-president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 deal in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions lifted by the deal.
“We want to make sure that what happened when Trump pulled out of the deal will not be repeated by any other American president in the future,” Araqchi told the pan-Arab satellite TV network.
US President Joe Biden in Geneva on Tuesday voiced support for speeding up approval of the financial transfers needed to deliver more food and medicines to Iran through a Swiss humanitarian channel, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said. 
The sixth round of talks to revive the deal resumed in Vienna last week between Iran and world powers.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said in remarks published on Wednesday that reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear accord will have to await the formation of a new Iranian government, adding a deal needed political will from all parties. 
“Everyone knows that, at this point, it will be necessary to wait for the new Iranian government,” Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica.
Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency also said, “The discussions that have been going on for weeks have dealt with very complex and delicate technical questions, but what is needed is the political will of the parties.”
The IAEA does not take any direct part in the negotiations but has been called on to verify any nuclear steps agreed in the talks, which aim to create a road map for Washington to lift its sanctions on Iran and Tehran to reinstate restrictions on its nuclear program.
Araqchi said Iran’s presidential election on Friday will have no effect on the negotiations and the Iranian negotiating team will continue the talks regardless of domestic policy.
Iran’s new president is expected to name his Cabinet by mid-August. The term of current President Hassan Rouhani ends on Aug. 3, a government spokesman said.

No Timeframe 

The US State Department on Thursday repeated that there has been progress in talks about resuming compliance with the Iran nuclear deal but that challenges remain, saying it has no timeframe for an end to the sixth round of talks underway in Vienna.
“We have been able to achieve some progress but challenges remain,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in a telephone briefing, Reuters reported.
“I don’t have a timeframe for the sixth round of talks,” he said when asked how long the current round of indirect negotiations might last.
In addition, the French Foreign Ministry said that “significant disagreements persist” in talks between Tehran and world powers aimed at reviving the landmark accord. 
The ministry said in a statement that the negotiations had become more difficult, and “this means courageous decisions are needed, which will have to be taken quickly, because we all share the opinion that time is on no one’s side.”