Iran says nuclear talks make important progress

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DUBAI — Talks in Vienna on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have made “important progress,” Iranian international ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh mentioned on Monday.

Individually, Iran’s prime safety official Ali Shamkhani mentioned talks with European negotiators had been ongoing and would proceed whereas negotiations with the US weren’t on the agenda as a result of they might not be the supply of “any breakthroughs.”

Oblique talks between Tehran and Washington have been held in Vienna since April amid fears about Tehran’s nuclear advances, seen by Western powers as irreversible except settlement is struck quickly.

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Whereas Khatibzadeh mentioned important progress was made, he additionally famous that “nothing is agreed till every little thing is agreed” within the Vienna talks. “The remaining points are the toughest,” he informed a weekly press briefing.

Khatibzadeh mentioned that Iran’s prime safety physique, the Supreme Nationwide Safety Council, handles the Vienna talks. It studies on to Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s prime authority.

Reuters reported final week {that a} U.S.-Iranian deal is taking form in Vienna after months of oblique talks to revive the nuclear pact, which Washington deserted in 2018 below then-president Donald Trump.

The draft textual content of the settlement additionally alluded to different points, together with unfreezing billions of {dollars} in Iranian funds in South Korean banks, and the discharge of Western prisoners held in Iran.

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Iran is able to swap prisoners with the US, Iran’s international minister mentioned on Saturday, including that talks to revive the nuclear deal may succeed “on the earliest potential time” if the US made the required political selections.

The 2015 deal between Iran and main powers restricted Iran’s enrichment of uranium to make it tougher for Tehran to develop materials for nuclear weapons, in return for a lifting of worldwide sanctions towards Tehran.

Talking from Doha on the sidelines of a fuel convention, Iranian oil minister Javad Owji referred to as the sanctions a violation of worldwide legislation and a menace to international vitality safety, the semi-official Tasnim information company reported.

Iran has violated among the deal’s nuclear limits since the US withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions below Trump.

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Israel, Iran’s arch-foe, has been carefully watching the Vienna talks. It’s urgent Washington concerning the phrases of an rising Iranian nuclear deal, Israeli officers mentioned on Monday, elevating the prospect of a bilateral day-after settlement with Washington to deal with their worries.

Whereas not a celebration to the talks, Israel has conferred with the U.S. administration in hope of wielding extra clout over any revival of the cope with Tehran reached over its objections.

(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Dubai Newsroom; extra reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem Writing by Michael Georgy Modifying by Gareth Jones, William Maclean)