8th round of Vienna talks to resume this week: EU

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The European Commission announced that the eighth round of Vienna talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal would resume later this week in the Austrian capital.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said the time for the eighth round would be agreed upon later, noting that the bloc is making efforts to resume the negotiations to restore the JCPOA between Iran and major world powers.

Chief Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said Wednesday the ground would be set to ensure that a win-win agreement is reached, stressing the importance of the West negotiating in good faith and seriousness for the revival of the agreement.

"Iran has not conducted direct talks with the US yet, and despite the progress in the negotiations, there are still important issues to address and agree upon," Bagheri Kani added.

France: JCPOA at final stage

The Vienna talks are nearing an end, and negotiators have returned to their countries to work out political decisions, the French Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The eighth round has been the longest of all, with parties to the negotiations being on the negotiation table since late December.

"Considering the timetable, we are entering the final phase of negotiations. Political decisions are needed. This is why the negotiators returned to their respective capitals for brief consultations," a ministry spokesperson told a press briefing.

According to the same spokesperson, Paris is intent on reaching an agreement that ensures Washington's return to the JCPOA and Tehran's fulfillment of its obligations under the deal.

The deal, signed by the United States, Iran, China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the European Union, has been abandoned after Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, who accompanied his decision with the imposition of harsh sanctions on Tehran.

Iran then stopped fulfilling its obligations under the agreement in response to the sanctions and the unilateral US withdrawal that left the deal in shambles.

The Vienna talks have been ongoing since April 2021. The seventh round of negotiations to revive the deal ended on December 17 without any solution, but there had been a consensus that the parties are close to reaching a solution to the issue.

However, the parties agreed on two drafts of the deal, which included provisions covering Iranian interests

A senior State Department official stated that the US is prepared to meet directly with Iran "if they are prepared to meet with us," stressing that the US thinks it would be very much in the interest of the JCPOA.

Despite the good indications, the senior US diplomat said the world was now "on the verge of a nuclear crisis," noting that the talks altogether could "collapse soon."