Talks 'closer' To Saving Iran Nuclear Deal

Vienna, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jun, 2021 ) :Negotiators are "closer" to saving the Iran nuclear deal but sticking points remain, diplomats said Sunday at the end of the latest round of talks.

World powers have been meeting since early April to try to bring the US back to the 2015 landmark agreement and Iran back into compliance with it.

Sunday's meeting came a day after ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi was declared the winner of the Islamic republic's presidential election, replacing moderate Hassan Rouhani.

"We are closer to a deal" but we are still "not there", EU negotiator Enrique Mora, who is chairing the talks, told reporters after the meeting.

Mora added that he expected in the next round "the delegations will come back from the capitals with clearer instructions, clearer ideas on how to finally close the deal".

He did not say when talks would resume, noting that the main problem continued to be finding a solution "in this delicate balance" between lifting US sanctions on Iran and reversing Tehran's stepped-up nuclear activities.

The 2015 accord -- promising Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbing its nuclear programme -- was thrown into disarray in 2018 when then US president Donald Trump withdrew.

He reimposed sanctions, leading Iran in turn to step up its nuclear activities from 2019 onwards.

Mora said the next seventh round of talks would also give "a clearer idea" of Iran's "new political environment" though he pointed out that talks had carried on despite the election.

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