Negotiations in Vienna aimed at resurrecting the Iran nuclear deal will be suspended on Friday to allow European diplomats to study the Islamic republic’s proposals, according to official media.
The discussions will “very likely” resume on Monday, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency, although the negotiating teams would need to stay in the Austrian city to finish their work.
Iran announced a day earlier that it has offered two draft ideas for the nuclear deal, which has been in shambles since the United States pulled out in 2018. “A meeting of the joint committee of the nuclear deal will be conducted on Friday following the handing over of the text of the Iranian proposal to the P4+1 group (Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany plus Germany) and the European Union,” Iran’s official news agency IRNA stated.
“This meeting was requested by the European side before its representatives return to their capitals to review the text proposed by Iran,” the news agency added.
The report was corroborated by two diplomatic sources in Vienna, according to AFP. According to one European diplomat, a resumption is expected early next week.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri, said on Thursday that the suggestions addressed two major flaws with the 2015 agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
“The first document sums up the Islamic republic’s point of view concerning the lifting of sanctions, while the second is about Iran’s nuclear actions,” Bagheri told state television.
“Now the other side must examine these documents and prepare itself to hold negotiations with Iran based on these documents.”
In a telephone call with EU top diplomat Josep Borrell, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the talks were going well “but slowly on all tracks”.
“We think that a good agreement is possible but that requires a change of approach by certain parties who must drop their threatening language and opt for texts focused on cooperation, mutual respect and results,” the minister said.
After a halt in June following the election of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi, the discussions were resumed in the Austrian capital on Monday.
The JCPOA’s purpose is to make it nearly hard for Iran to develop nuclear weapons while allowing it to pursue a civilian nuclear program. Iran has consistently maintained that it does not want a nuclear arsenal.
