Homa Lezgee
Press TV, Vienna
Iran and the remaining signatories of the 2015 agreement that promised sanctions relief for certain caps on Iran’s nuclear program are intensifying the process of drafting a revived deal.
Delegates from Iran, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the EU have now adopted a new format for discussions, meeting together in one room to focus on the Iranian demands for verified and effective removal of US sanctions and guarantees Washington will not withdraw from the agreement in future or reimpose sanctions. This while expert-level talks continue in other rooms on Iranian nuclear commitments and the sequencing of steps that need to be taken for Iran and the US to go back to full compliance.
European and American officials have been raising concerns about the amount of time left to reach a conclusion, with some diplomats suggesting they only have weeks and other sources citing early February as an unofficial deadline.
Sources close to the talks say negotiations are progressing at a normal pace. To claim that the talks have stagnated is unfair, they say, because resolving the outstanding issues requires further discussions given the complexities of the problems.