Representatives from Iran and other relevant parties will meet in Vienna on Thursday to resume nuclear talks which restarted on November 29 before stopping this past Friday, the Xinhua news agency reports.
According to the report, a correspondent for Iran’s Tasnim news agency was informed that the negotiating delegations will resume their talks in Vienna on Thursday.
The date of the meeting was decided by Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, and Enrique Mora, deputy secretary-general and political director of the European External Action Service, in a phone conversation on Monday, the report said.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.
Indirect negotiations between the US and Iran on a return to the nuclear deal resumed in Vienna last week, after a six-month hiatus following the election in June of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday criticized Iran and said it is not serious about reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.
“What we’ve seen in the last couple of days is that Iran, right now, does not seem to be serious about doing what’s necessary to return to compliance, which is why we ended this round of talks in Vienna,” Blinken said during the Reuters Next conference, after the latest round of indirect talks adjourned.
He warned that the United States would not let Iran drag out the process while continuing to advance its nuclear program and stressed that Washington will pursue other options if diplomacy fails.
Iran has repeatedly demanded that the US lift sanctions imposed on Iran and also reassure Iran it will not abandon the deal again as a precondition for its returning to compliance with the deal.
US officials have said that while they prefer the diplomatic route to reach an agreement with Iran, there are other options on the table should that fail.