Nuclear Talks Not at Dead End

Negotiations on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal are underway in a new format and have not reached a dead end despite negotiators’ return to their home countries, according to Iran’s representative.
Talks started in the Austrian capital Vienna in April 2021 to restore the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which offered sanctions lifting to Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. 
The JCPOA lost shape when the United States pulled out in 2018 and restored sweeping sanctions on Tehran, which responded by scaling down its commitments.
After months of negotiation with major progress on most areas of difference, Vienna talks were halted in March over a few remaining issues and diplomats returned to their capitals. 
However, the European Union coordinator of the talks, Enrique Mora, has traveled to Iran twice to bridge the gaps. 
Iran’s top negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani has refuted the idea that negotiations have reached a dead end, according to the head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, who was briefed on the progress of the talks on Sunday. 
“No trip to Vienna is on Mr. Baqeri’s agenda in near future, but his view is that negotiations are still going on and Mr. Mora’s trip to Tehran and the written correspondence are considered as continuation of talks,” Vahid Jalalzadeh told ICANA. 
He added that Iran has shared its views with Mora in his latest visit, hoping that he would deliver the messages correctly to the American side. 
Vienna talks are facing an impasse over two key issues, including the terror designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and a list of sanctions on real and legal persons, according to Jalalzadeh.
Iran demands the delisting of the IRGC from the list of terror organizations, describing it as a component of the maximum pressure campaign imposed by the former US administration after its withdrawal from the JCPOA. 
Washington refuses to do so, arguing that it is not within the purview of the nuclear deal. 
Tehran also insists that its complete economic benefits from the JCPOA must be ensured once again before it returns to the limits of the deal.