Iran 'nearing agreement' with Western powers in Vienna nuclear deal talks

Iran is moving forward with nuclear negotiations with the US and European powers at an "acceptable rate", an Iranian foreign policy official said.

Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi, a member of Iran's national security and foreign policy committee, told The New Arab's Arabic language service that Iran and European counties had reached an “almost agreement” on core issues, but differences over the lifting of sanctions on Tehran remained. 

The Vienna negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, which the previous US administration of President Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018, are currently in their eighth round. 

Jahanabadi said that the negotiations are "moving forward on an acceptable path," saying that "it is taking place slowly, but with hope and positive prospects."

"Lifting sanctions needs more negotiation and the US is hesitating on removing sanctions as part of the agreement but we will continue to stand our ground," he said.

He condemned the US's refusal to lift sanctions during the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, saying that it wants to keep a large part of them under the pretext that they are non-nuclear.

"The Americans raised other issues unrelated to the nuclear negotiations, such as the missile program, regional issues and human rights issues, which will further complicate and risk collapsing the negotiations," Jahanabadi warned.

He added that an agreement is expected to reach before Nowruz - the Iranian new year - which will fall on 21 March, though the agreement to lift sanctions may take longer than this.

Diplomats have been meeting in the Austrian capital in the search for a breakthrough to revive the 2015 deal, which was agreed between Iran, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

The drive to salvage the nuclear deal resumed in late November after talks were suspended in June as Iran elected ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi.

The deal - agreed by Iran, the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany - offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

But the US reimposed severe economic sanctions after the 2018 withdrawal, prompting Tehran to begin rolling back on its commitments under the deal and enriching uranium