New Delhi

Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday said that agreement on two issues remained with the US in order to restore 2015 nuclear deal.

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The nuclear deal was done between Iran and world powers in 2015 but Donald Trump-led USA withdrew from the deal in 2018. 

Iran has been engaged in direct talks in Vienna to revive the accord, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly. The United States, which unliterally pulled out of the deal in 2018, is participating indirectly.

"We had four issues as our red lines," but "two issues have almost been resolved," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying Wednesday by state news agency IRNA, adding that "two issues remain, including (an) economic guarantee".

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He did not elaborate on the second issue.

"If the American side fulfils our two remaining demands today, we will be ready to go to Vienna tomorrow," he said.

More than 10 months of negotiations had brought the parties close to renewing the landmark accord.

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But the talks were halted after Russia this month demanded guarantees that Western sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine would not damage its trade with Iran.

Amir-Abdollahian's remarks come a day after his visit to Moscow, where counterpart Sergei Lavrov said Russia had received the necessary guarantees from Washington on trade with Iran.

The 2015 agreement gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something it has always denied wanting to do.

(With inputs from agencies)