Negotiations to resurrect a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers will resume in Austria’s capital on Monday, according to authorities.
The declaration came amid concerns that the landmark agreement would be rendered outdated in weeks if Iran continued to ramp up its nuclear activity, as it has done since 2019, a year after the US unilaterally withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
“Vienna talks to resume on Monday 27 December. The JCPOA Joint Commission will meet to discuss and define the way ahead,” European Union diplomat Enrique Mora wrote on Twitter, referring to the acronym of the deal’s formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“Important to pick up the pace on key outstanding issues and move forward, working closely with the US. Welcome to the 8th round.”
After a five-month pause, talks resumed in November to try to salvage the deal, which was supposed to relieve Iran of sanctions in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme. Last Monday, the seventh round came to a close, with some modest gains reported.
According to reports, the participants – Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, which is participating indirectly – were close to agreeing on a new joint draught, incorporating elements from a text reached by the end of the sixth round in June and new proposals presented by President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration in the form of two documents earlier this month.
Iran has stated that it wants all sanctions imposed by the US as part of its “maximum pressure” campaign removed, a demand that Western allies see as extreme.
Iran also wants a period to verify the easing of sanctions and assurances from the US that it will not back out of the agreement – demands it wants to include in a third text once the first two have been agreed upon.
While it is not “popular to engage in serious business” during the holiday season, Russia’s chief envoy to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Thursday that the restart of talks suggested a consensus on reinstating the accord as soon as possible.
Representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Iran are expected to attend the conference, according to the EU’s diplomatic service.
“Participants will continue the discussions on the prospect of a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides,” the External Action Service’s statement said.
If diplomacy fails to restore the deal, US negotiator Rob Malley warned on Tuesday of a “period of growing crisis.”
Iran claims that its nuclear programme is peaceful and that it only seeks to create a civilian nuclear capability, but Western powers claim that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is far larger and could be used to develop a nuclear bomb.
