Deputy Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbass Araghchi, who leads the Iranian delegation in Vienna talks to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) said that the talks will begin next week.
“Over the past two weeks, which were the fourth round of the talks, I think good progress has been made, and there are certain key issues that call for more consultation and decisions to be made in the capitals [of the negotiators’ respective countries], which we hope will be reached in the next few days so that we can reach a conclusion on them in the next round of the talks,” Araghchi told reporters after the fourth round of talks in Vienna Grand Hotel on Wednesday afternoon, according to a translated version of his words on the Press TV website.
He added that there is agreement over other issues and good steps have been taken on a draft text for reviving the deal, but he also said that “Some key issues are still remaining and have not been agreed upon, so the delegations decided to take a few days off and return to their respective capitals for the necessary consultations.”
Meanwhile, at the end of yesterday’s meeting, the Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted, “The 4th round of the Vienna talks is over. The #JCPOA participants at their meeting today noted that “good”or “significant” progress was made and that an agreement is “within reach”. The Joint Commission will resume its work early next week. Hopefully the 5th round will be final.”