Talks on Iran nuclear deal to resume in Vienna on Monday
23 December 2021, 14:54
The accord was meant to rein in Iran’s nuclear programme in return for loosened economic sanctions.
Negotiators from Iran and five world powers that are trying to revive a tattered 2015 nuclear deal will resume talks in Vienna next week, the European Union has said.
The talks were adjourned nearly a week ago after a round marked by tensions over new demands from Tehran. They are chaired by EU diplomat Enrique Mora.
Participants from Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran will resume their efforts on Monday. They had been interrupted to allow Iran’s chief negotiator to return home for consultations.
The United States has participated indirectly in the talks because it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden has signalled that he wants to re-join the deal.
The accord was meant to rein in Iran’s nuclear programme in return for loosened economic sanctions.
Following the US decision to withdraw from the deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, Tehran has ramped up its nuclear programme again by enriching uranium well beyond the thresholds allowed by the agreement.
Iran has also restricted monitors from the UN’s atomic watchdog agency from accessing its nuclear facilities, raising concerns about what the country is doing out of view.
Diplomats from Britain, France and Germany said after the talks adjourned last week that negotiators in Vienna were “rapidly reaching the end of the road”. They have expressed frustration with Tehran’s new demands in recent weeks but pointed to “some technical progress” so far.
Russian delegate to the talks Mikhail Ulyanov acknowledged on Twitter that “usually it isn’t popular to engage in serious business” between Christmas and the new year.
But he said that “in this particular case this is an indication that all negotiators don’t want to (waste) time, and aim at speediest restoration” of the nuclear deal.
