Iran nuclear talks to start ‘soon’ after modest gains in Vienna

While it appears that progress was made during the seventh round of talks in Vienna to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, the negotiating world powers are still far from reaching an agreement.

On Friday, the remaining signatories to the pact that the US abandoned in 2018 met at Palais Coburg for a Joint Commission meeting.

The delegations are due to return to Vienna in approximately a week, to resume work on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We don’t have months, but weeks” to reach an agreement, said Enrique Mora, the European Union’s discussions coordinator, at a press conference after the meeting on Friday.

“There’s a sense of urgency that’s critical if we’re going to be successful in these negotiations.”

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s senior negotiator, said in a tweet that talks will continue “soon,” adding that the most recent round of talks “was successful in that it provided a good platform for further rigorous negotiations.”

According to reports, the parties are close to agreeing on a new joint draught that will incorporate elements from a text reached by the end of the sixth round in June as well as new proposals from President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration, which were presented in the form of two documents earlier this month.

If Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – as well as the United States, which is involved indirectly – agree on a draught, it will serve as the foundation for carrying the talks forward.

Iran’s senior negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, stated in a tweet prior to Friday’s meeting that “excellent progress” had been made over the week and that an eighth round will be held after a brief break.

Iran has stated that it wants all sanctions imposed by the US as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign repealed, a demand that Western allies see as extreme.

Iran also wants a period to verify the easing of sanctions and assurances from the US that it will not back out of the agreement – demands it wants to include in a third text once the first two have been agreed upon.