Last week’s talks were the first in over five months, a gap caused by a new hard-line government assuming power in Tehran. The United States has participated indirectly in the ongoing talks because it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump. Washington plans to send a delegation led by Robert Malley, the special U.S. envoy for Iran, to Vienna over the weekend. Following the U.S. decision to withdraw and reimpose sanctions against Iran, Tehran has ramped up its nuclear program again by enriching uranium beyond the thresholds allowed in the agreement. Russia's delegate to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, described Thursday's talks as “constructive" and tweeted that there were “important commonalities,” including on a need to conclude the talks quickly and successfully.

Source: thestar December 09, 2021 19:53 UTC