ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Vienna talks have made significant progress, but the subject of lifting sanctions has been stalled by the United States, the spokesperson to Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday, as Tehran’s negotiating team heads back to Vienna.
“There are crucial differences left in Vienna and most importantly is the disproportionate speed of the opposing parties, especially the United States,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters, adding that despite significant progress being made on technical issues, “in the discussion of lifting sanctions, the talks are subject to political decisions that have been stalled by the other side.”
Khatibzadeh’s statement comes as Iran’s negotiators are set to return to Vienna on Monday after representatives of the countries returned home on Saturday for consultations.
According to Khatibzadeh, if Washington makes a decision, then the talks “will move with good speed to a good and reliable agreement.”
Talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) resumed late November. Under former US President Donald Trump’s administration, the US withdrew from the nuclear accord and imposed a raft of sanctions in an effort to force Tehran to renegotiate a broader deal. President Joe Biden wants to return to the deal.
While the US withdrew from the deal, Iran has enormously increased its uranium enrichment.
Iran’s atomic energy agency in November said that its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium has reached over 210 kilograms. Iran was not meant to enrich uranium above 3.67 percent, according to the JCPOA, with negotiators now setting a firm timer on the talks.
Iranian officials expressed hope in the talks earlier this month with the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian saying that the talks were heading in the right direction and Iran’s initiatives had brought talks on a constructive track, calling on western powers to show good faith and commit to a good deal.
EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell also expressed optimism in the talks when on Friday he said that a deal with Iran remained "possible", and that the talks were advancing in a "better atmosphere" than before Christmas.
However US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that only "a few weeks" were left to save the 2015 deal, and that Washington would consider "other options" if the negotiations fail.
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