Diplomats: Progress made in Vienna at Iran nuclear talks

Top diplomats say further progress has been made at talks between Iran and global powers to try to restore a landmark 2015 agreement to contain Iranian nuclear development that was abandoned by the Trump administration. They say it is now up to the governments involved in the negotiations to make political decisions.

Some diplomats express concern that Iran’s election of Ebrahim Raisi as president could complicate a possible return to the nuclear agreement.

Enrique Mora, the European Union official who chaired the final meeting of the sixth round of talks between Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain, and Iran, tells reporters that “we are closer to a deal, but we are not still there.”

“We have made progress on a number of technical issues,” Mora added. ”We have now more clarity on technical documents — all of them quite complex — and that clarity allows us to have also a great idea of what the political problems are.”

Iran’s governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kazem Gharib Abadi, political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, and deputy secretary general and political director of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, leave the Grand Hotel Vienna, where closed-door nuclear talks take place in Vienna, Austria, June 2, 2021. (AP/Lisa Leutner)