Iran, EU top diplomats discuss developments in Vienna talks on nuclear deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday exchanged views on the progress made at the ongoing negotiations on the revival of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), held in the Austrian capital of Vienna. In a telephonic conversation, Zarif and Borrell discussed the latest developments pertaining to the Vienna talks and the considerable headway made with the negotiations, reported Sputnik, quoting the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

"The fundamental change of the approach, as a prerequisite for making Vienna talks successful, is the political decision that the US president must make to this end," Zarif told the EU's foreign policy chief, reported IRNA news. Thanking Burrell for his efforts, Zarif criticised the continuation of "US economic terrorism" over the past five months and the prolonged violation of its obligations.

A new round of talks to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) began in Vienna on April 6 between Iran and the remaining members of the nuclear deal, namely the UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany. The US left the JCPOA in 2018 and restored the economic sanctions that the accord had lifted. Tehran retaliated with remedial nuclear measures that it is entitled to take under the JCPOA's Paragraph 36.

The current negotiations examine the potential of revitalisation of the nuclear deal and the US' likely return to it.