Iran

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. 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.

"Prospect of a deal in Vienna talks remains unclear due to Washington's delay in making a political decision," Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani tweeted, Xinhua news agency reported. Shamkhani said that the priority of Iranian negotiators is to resolve the remaining issues that are considered to have crossed the red line of the country. "Rapid access to a strong deal requires new initiatives from all parties," he noted.

Mohammad Reza Ghaebi, head of Iran's permanent mission to international organizations in Vienna, made the remarks in response to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi's report on the agency's Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) safeguards agreement with the Islamic republic after his visit to Iran, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Iran's official news agency IRNA.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have agreed on a roadmap to resolve Iran's nuclear safeguards issues by June, a vital step as talks in Vienna over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal entered the final stage. The IAEA released a joint statement by its Director-General Rafael Grossi and Mohammad Eslami, president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), after the two met in Tehran early Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

During a phone conversation with the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell on Saturday, Abdollahian stressed that Iran's definite choice in the nuclear talks is "not to cross its redlines," Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday. The remaining issues can be resolved and a final agreement can be reached "if a realistic approach is taken by the West," he said.

Dismissing allegations by some countries that Iran is seeking "to make an atomic bomb," Eslami said on Thursday that this is the right of his country to develop its civilian nuclear energy program, given that it is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Thursday made the remarks in a phone conversation with his British counterpart Liz Truss, noting that for a swift and sustainable agreement, the US and E3 group of France, Britain and Germany have to remove the sanctions on Tehran, according to the Foreign Ministry's website.

The Vienna talks have reached a critical stage, and "still a few but very important issues remain in our talks" aimed at removing US sanctions and restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, said Abdollahian on Wednesday in a joint press conference with his visiting Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi.

Speaking at the sixth summit of the 11-member Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Doha, Raisi on Tuesday said imposing hegemonic will and demands on other independent states through sanctions cannot be an effective strategy in today's world, as it jeopardizes the collective interests of the GECF members.

Referring to the negotiations in Vienna between Iran and world powers, Bennett told his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that "the talks are advancing quickly... We may see an agreement shortly", reports Xinhua news agency. But "the new apparent agreement is shorter and weaker than the previous one," he said. The Israeli leader warned that the lift of sanctions against Iran will provide the country with more money to build weapons.