Iran Nuclear Talks Resume In Vienna Following New Year Recess

Iranian negotiators meeting with the three European envoys in nuclear talks on Monday.
Iranian negotiators meeting with the three European envoys in nuclear talks on Monday.

Iran's Chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani has met with the European Union’s representative at the Vienna talks, Enrique Mora, and envoys of the three European participants in the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.

The second leg of the eighth round of the negotiations started Monday as the participating parties have returned to the Austrian capital after the New Year holidays and consultations with their respective capitals.

According to the negotiating teams, the sides were also engaged in unofficial talks and exchanging messages during the three-day recess, IRNA said.

During the Monday meetings, the participating teams continued discussions on the possible roadmap for revival of the July 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the JCPOA.

Earlier in the day, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Western negotiators have backed off from their "maximalist demands”.

The emphasis on the Western side's "retreat" is apparently a reaction to the Iranian media's criticism of the negotiating team after the Russian envoy to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that Russia and China had convinced Iran to back off from some of its "maximalist demands" in the last round of talks.

Nour News which is affiliated with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, Sunday admitted that Iran had dropped some of its previous demands but accused the media of misinterpreting the facts.