Vienna
\nEU, Iranian and Russian diplomats sounded upbeat as Iran and world powers held their first talks in five months on Monday to try to save their 2015 nuclear deal, despite Tehran taking a tough stance in public that Western powers said would not work.
\nDiplomats say time is running out to resurrect the pact, which then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 in a move which infuriated Iran and dismayed the other powers involved – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
\nEuropean Union, Iranian and Russian delegates to the talks offered optimistic assessments after the new round began with a session of the remaining parties to the deal, without the United States – whom Iran refuses to meet face-to-face.
\n\u201cI feel extremely positive about what I have seen today,\u201d Enrique Mora, the EU official chairing the talks, said after the meeting – the seventh round of talks aimed at reviving a deal under which Iran limited its disputed uranium enrichment program in return for relief from U.S., EU and U.N. economic sanctions.
\nMora told reporters the new Iranian delegation had stuck to its demand that all sanctions be lifted. But he also suggested Tehran had not rejected outright the results of the previous six rounds of talks held between April and June.
\n\u201cThey have accepted that the work done over the first six rounds is a good basis to build our work ahead,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will be of course incorporating the new political sensibilities of the new Iranian administration.\u201d
\nRussia\u2019s envoy to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Twitter they \u201cstarted quite successfully.\u201d Asked he if was optimistic, Iran\u2019s top negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, told reporters: \u201cYes, I am.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vienna EU, Iranian and Russian diplomats sounded upbeat as Iran and world powers held their first talks in five months on Monday to try to save their 2015 nuclear deal, despite Tehran taking a tough stance in public that Western powers said would not work. Diplomats say time is running out to resurrect the pact, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-230317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n