Iran nuclear deal talks to resume next week

Talks in Vienna on a reboot of the Iran nuclear deal adjourned today, and will resume next week.

The EU, which is chairing the talks about the potential for the US to return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, said that today's discussions "took stock" of progress. The expert groups established earlier this week to identify measures to be taken on Iran's nuclear implementation and US sanctions relief will continue their work, and all parties will reconvene next week.

These are the first talks on details of the JCPOA since former US president Donald Trump pulled his country out of the agreement in 2018. Participants in this week's discussions have said that reaching a new pact will take time. Both sides have insisted that the other make the first move, and reiterated those positions this week.

Today, Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the US should return to full compliance first, and that "Iran will reciprocate following rapid verification". He also called for the removal of all sanctions imposed by the Trump administration "without distinction between arbitrary designations". The US is holding out the prospect of full relief of sanctions, and the State Department this week said that "we will need to provide sanctions relief for sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA".

US sanctions have cut off more than 2mn b/d of Iranian crude exports.

By Ben Winkley