Iran says nuclear talks reach sensitive point

Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that talks in Vienna on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have reached a sensitive point, and that Western countries should take a realistic approach to settling remaining issues.

“Nuclear talks in Vienna have reached a sensitive and critical stage,” Hossein Amirabdollahian, the Iranian minister, said at a joint press conference with his Omani counterpart in Tehran.

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“We are unsure whether the Western side will be able to take a pragmatic approach to the remaining points of the talks.”
After months of indirect talks to revive the nuclear pact abandoned in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump, who also reimposed extensive sanctions on Iran, Reuters reported last week that a US-Iran deal was taking shape in Vienna.

In exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, Iran and world powers agreed to limit Tehran’s uranium enrichment, making it more difficult for Tehran to develop material for nuclear weapons if it chose to.

During this month’s annual Munich Security Conference, Amirabdollahian said Iran made it clear to the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, that Tehran would never cross its red lines during negotiations.

A Russian envoy said on Tuesday that the talks are nearing a conclusion, and sources close to the talks said a prisoner swap between Iran and the US is expected soon.

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Following the United States’ withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2019, Tehran has gone far beyond its limits, rebuilding enriched uranium stockpiles, refining it to higher fissile purity, and installing advanced centrifuges to increase output.