Iran’s top negotiator to the Vienna talks said Iran and the remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement are resolving outstanding issues as diplomatic efforts are continuing in the Austrian capital to secure the removal of the sanctions that the US imposed on Tehran following its withdrawal from the deal in 2018.
Ali Baqeri made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Saturday after meetings with representatives of other parties to the deal, IRNA reported.
He also said the talks aimed at reviving the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, are advancing and moving forward.
Following talks with the Iranian lead negotiator, diplomats of the remaining parties to the deal held a meeting with the US representative and discussed the latest developments with regard to the Vienna talks.
Iran and world powers resumed talks in Vienna on Monday after the parties took a three-day break for the New Year.
The eighth round of the Vienna talks began on December 27 with a focus on the removal of all US sanctions. The US is not allowed to directly attend the talks due to its pullout in 2018 from the landmark deal with Iran.
During the previous round of the talks, the first under Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran presented new proposals at the negotiating table to help the talks move forward and later criticized the European signatories of the JCPOA for failing to follow suit and remaining passive.
Tehran’s chief negotiator told reporters on Wednesday that the Vienna talks are “positive and forward-moving” and emphasized that efforts were underway to achieve results from the talks.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during the talks in Vienna, Tehran seeks guarantees that no sanctions will be imposed on the country once they are removed.
“We seek removal of sanctions that were imposed on Iran by [former US president Donald] Trump, especially those sanctions that are at odds with the nuclear deal,” Iran’s foreign minister said.
He added, “We also want guarantees that no new sanctions are imposed and that the existing sanctions would not be reimposed once they are removed.”
Meanwhile, the Russian chief negotiator to the Vienna negotiations, Mikhail Ulyanov, said in a tweet that the talks between Iran and the five countries are moving forward not fast but incrementally.
“I would say that the atmosphere at the ViennaTalks is positive and businesslike. Judging by my contacts with other counterparts, they share this assessment,” Ulyanov tweeted on Saturday.
