Nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna are “moving in the right direction” and a final agreement may be within reach, a senior European Union official said on Friday, according to Reuters.
"My assessment is that we are on the right track for a final agreement," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"My concern, more than in the substance, is about the timing. There I have a feeling that we are going too slow. It would be an incredible mistake if, because of timing, we would not get a good solution," the official said without elaborating. "Still, I think that we will have an agreement...and I think that it will be rather sooner than later."
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.
However, it has held indirect talks with the US on reviving the deal. Negotiations to restore the deal resumed in late November after they were suspended in June.
The Islamic Republic 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.
On Wednesday, a senior US official involved in nuclear talks with Iran told Axios that Iran will have to either accelerate its pace at the negotiating table or slow down the pace of its nuclear program to buy more time for diplomacy.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)