Iran nuclear talks to pause for European diplomats to review proposals: state media

Negotiations in Vienna aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal are set to be suspended on Friday so that European diplomats can review proposals by the Islamic Republic, state media said.

Iran said a day earlier that it had submitted two draft proposals for the nuclear agreement, which has been in tatters since the United States' withdrawal in 2018.

"After the handing over of the text of the Iranian proposal to the P4+1 group [Britain, China, France and Russia plus Germany] and the European Union, a meeting of the joint committee of the nuclear deal will be held on Friday," said Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

"This meeting was requested by the European side before its representatives return to their capitals to review the text proposed by Iran," IRNA added.

Two diplomatic sources based in Vienna confirmed the report to AFP, with the meeting due to start at midday (1100 GMT).

A resumption is expected early next week, one European diplomat said.

On Thursday, Iran's lead negotiator Ali Bagheri said the proposals concerned two main issues facing the 2015 accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

"The first document sums up the Islamic Republic's point of view concerning the lifting of sanctions, while the second is about Iran's nuclear actions," Bagheri told state television.

The US and Iran both sounded pessimistic on Thursday about the chances of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Washington said it had little cause for optimism and Tehran questioned the determination of US and European negotiators.https://t.co/g5RvaTZZ5t

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"Now the other side must examine these documents and prepare itself to hold negotiations with Iran based on these documents."

The talks had resumed in the Austrian capital on Monday after Iran paused them in June following the election of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi.

The goal of the JCPOA is to make it practically impossible for Iran to build an atomic bomb, while allowing it to pursue a civilian nuclear programme. Iran has always denied wanting a nuclear arsenal.