Crucial talks with Iran to prevent the collapse of a nuclear deal have resumed in Vienna, Austria, after a five-month pause.
Talks on Iran nuclear deal resume in Vienna
Representatives of Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom attended the meeting.
Officials are discussing the possible return of the US to the 2015 accord which limited Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions.
Iran has violated key commitments since then-President Donald Trump pulled out in 2018 and reinstated US sanctions. This move infuriated Iran and dismayed the other powers involved - Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
President Joe Biden is willing to lift them if Iran reverses the breaches. But, Iran wants the US to make the first move. Mr Biden's special envoy, Robert Malley, has said the US is ready to take all of the steps necessary to come back into compliance, including lifting the sanctions imposed by the Trump Administration. The window for negotiations will not be open forever, he added.
European Union, Iranian and Russian delegates to the talks offered optimistic assessments after the new round began with a session of the remaining parties to the deal, without the US, whom Iran refuses to meet face-to-face.
Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said yesterday that Iran was seeking to end sanctions in exchange for almost nothing and urged world powers not to give into Iran's nuclear blackmail.
Western diplomats have warned that time is running out to negotiate a solution because of the significant advances Iran has made in its Uranium Enrichment Programme, which is a possible pathway to a nuclear bomb.
Iran insists that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.
