Vienna talks aim to keep Iran nuke deal alive: Germany

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) – Germany’s foreign minister on Tuesday said the goal of the Vienna negotiations is to keep alive the Iran nuclear deal.

It appears that all sides in the Vienna talks are pursuing the goal of keeping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) alive, Heiko Maas said in a news briefing with Ivan Korcok, his counterpart from Slovakia, in Berlin.

“All those involved want to play a constructive role and are trying to come to a result that looks like this; Iran fully returns to its commitments and the US is also ready to lift the sanctions it imposed on Iran after withdrawing from the JCPOA,” he said.

Senior diplomats from Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany kicked off a third round of talks earlier in the day in the Austrian capital, aiming to find a way to revive the deal that former US President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned in May 2018.

An American delegation headed by Robert Malley, the US’ special envoy for Iran, is also in Vienna as intense behind-the-scenes negotiations are ongoing to save the accord.

However, the team has not participated in meetings with the other world powers, as Iran refuses to directly negotiate with the US until sanctions imposed by the Trump administration are lifted.