Nuclear deal talks: Iran says West still not making 'political decisions'

Iran said on Monday that Western countries were yet to make 'political decisions' to conclude talks to restore 2015 nuclear deal. Iran's chief negotiator has returned to Vienna for talks. All sides engaged in talks in Vienna have indicated progress in negotiations, but countries are also saying that they are at a critical stage.

Iran has repeatedly emphasised the need for the West to make certain "decisions".

"Unfortunately, Western sides and the US haven't still made their political decisions on several remaining issues," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at his weekly press conference.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

These issues are "in the fields of removal of sanctions, guarantees and some political claims about Iran's peaceful nuclear programme", he said.

Parties to the 2015 deal saw it as the best way to stop the Islamic republic from building a nuclear bomb -– a goal Tehran has always denied.

Iran has also restricted some inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog. The IAEA wants Iran to resolve questions surrounding the previous presence of nuclear material at undeclared sites but Iran is asking for this issue to be "closed."

Khatibzadeh said that, unless this dispute is settled, "we can't think of the possibility of an agreement about the return of the US to JCPOA."

He confirmed that Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri returned to Vienna on Monday. Bagheri had gone home last Wednesday for consultations, during which talks continued at the level of experts in Vienna.

The negotiations to revive the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, involve Iran as well as France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the United States indirectly.

(With inputs from agencies)