Political decisions needed for ending Vienna talks on Iran nuclear deal: EU coordinator

Vienna, March 8 (IANS) Political decisions need to be made to end the Vienna talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Enrique Mora, deputy secretary-general of the European External Action Service, has said.

"It is time, in the next few days, for political decisions to end the Vienna talks. The rest is noise," Mora said on Twitter.

Mora is acting as the European Union's coordinator in the negotiations in Vienna. His comments came as Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in Tehran on Monday that few differences remain between Iran and the West, Xinhua news agency reported.

"If the US approach is reasonable, the quick agreement is available," Khatibzadeh said. However, he emphasised that Iran will never accept or adhere to a deadline for negotiations.

"There are no longer 'expert level talks'. Nor 'formal meetings'," Mora said, refuting reports of further such meetings.

In 2015, Iran signed the landmark nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US, plus Germany) and the EU.

However, former US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the pact in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran. This prompted Iran to drop some of its nuclear commitments and advance its previously halted nuclear programs.

Since April 2021, Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties have held eight rounds of marathon talks in Vienna to revive the deal.