West asks Iran if serious or stalling on nuclear talks
Iran demanded the removal of all sanctions imposed on it as nuclear talks resumed in Vienna on Monday (November 29).
The meeting between Tehran and world powers hopes to salvage the 2015 pact abandoned by Washington three years ago, under former President Donald Trump.
Just before talks began, Iran's Foreign Ministry went as far as to say the return of the U.S. to the nuclear deal would be meaningless without it removing sanctions first and putting in place guarantees to prevent it reimposing tariffs in future.
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh:
"If the U.S. comes to the negotiating table to truly remove sanctions, it can definitely get the go-ahead to return to the Iran Nuclear Deal discussion room. If not, it will need to stay away from the JCPOA negotiating table, as it has been doing."
Hopes of a breakthrough remain slim with Western nations describing Tehran's demands as 'unrealistic'.
Diplomats say time is running out to resurrect the pact.
International Affairs Analyst Hamidreza Gholamzadeh argues that not coming to an agreement would be a missed opportunity.
"So if this window is closed and the Europeans and Western countries miss this opportunity that they have, the situation would be maybe tougher and Iran might step more forward and reach higher enrichment levels or develop its capabilities in terms of nuclear power in higher levels and then they would need to discuss at that time with higher demand."
The Biden U.S. administration has offered to return to the deal, but on Monday the Iranian foreign ministry also ruled out holding direct bilateral talks with America.
Six rounds of indirect talks took place between April and June.
This new round begins after a five month pause, triggered by the election Iran's new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, in June.
