Top Diplomats Say Iran Nuclear Talks Nearing End

The European Union coordinator of the Vienna nuclear talks has reiterated that negotiations are at a crucial point with the result still uncertain.

“We are nearing the end after ten months of negotiations,” wrote Enrique Mora, a senior EU official, in a tweet Tuesday. All delegations were in intense talks, Mora noted, as “key issues need to be fixed” in agreeing the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

Stephanie Al-Qaq, the lead British negotiator in Vienna, tweeted that the talks were “in the end game,” and that it was “time for us to conclude.”

A positive note came from Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s lead negotiator. “Apparently the negotiations on restoration of the JCPOA are about to cross the finish line,” he tweeted after exchanging views with Mora on the current state of affairs.

Media interest in the Vienna nuclear negotiations has increased during recent weeks with reports that agreement was close. Tehran has called for the removal of all sanctions imposed under the ‘maximum pressure’ introduced by President Donald Trump as he withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018, but deciding which sanctions contravene the JCPOA has proved contentious.