Iran agrees to restart negotiations on 2015 nuclear deal by November-end

Iran’s foreign minister and the country’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, has said that Tehran will resume talks next month with world powers over its 2015 nuclear deal.

Kani confirmed the talks after meeting with European officials in Brussels on Wednesday, saying the exact date will be announced next week.

The other participants in the talks —which included indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran —still need to confirm their participation.

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“We agree to start negotiations before the end of November. Exact date would be announced in the course of the next week,” Bagheri wrote on Twitter.

The talks that were held in Vienna broke off in June at the time of the Iranian presidential elections.

The new hardline president Ebrahim Raisi has been under pressure from allies includingRussiato return to the talks.

The agreement between Iran and world powers to find a long-term solution to the crisis over its controversial nuclear programme has been suspended since former US president Donald Trump walked out of the deal in May 2018 and imposed a series of sanctions.

His successor Joe Biden has said he is ready to re-enter the agreement, as long as Iran meets key preconditions including full compliance with the deal whose terms it has repeatedly violated by ramping up nuclear activities since the US left the pact.

Another issue is that Iran continues to push for guarantees that the US and European powers won’t renege on their commitments in the future.

There was also some controversy over in what format Iranian officials wanted to meet with their European counterparts prior to the Vienna negotiations.

The EU acts as a coordinator for the deal that also involves Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.

(With inputs from agencies)