Negotiators from Iran, the US and the European Union have resumed indirect talks on the Tehran nuclear deal after months of deadlock.
Lead negotiators in renewed talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal said they are optimistic it is possible to reach an agreement to limit uranium enrichment in Tehran.
“We are five minutes or five seconds from the finish line,” Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov told reporters outside the Palais Coburg in Vienna on Sunday, four days after talks began. He said there were “three or four problems” left to solve.
“They are sensitive, especially towards Iranians and Americans,” Ulyanov said. “I can’t guarantee it, but the impression is that we’re moving in the right direction.”
Enrique Mora, the European Union’s chief negotiator, also said he was “absolutely” optimistic about the progress of the talks so far.
“We are making progress and I expect that we will conclude the negotiations soon,” he told Iranian media.
Negotiators from Iran, the United States and the EU resumed indirect talks on the disrupted nuclear deal with Tehran on Thursday after months of deadlock.
Hours after the US imposed a new set of sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical exports, Tehran responded by ordering gas to be injected into “hundreds” of state-of-the-art centrifuges, further accelerating its nuclear program.
Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal with the US, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China. The deal saw Iran agree to limit its uranium enrichment under the supervision of United Nations inspectors in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Then US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the deal in 2018, saying he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didn’t happen. A year later, Iran began violating the terms of the deal.