Iran nuke deal close but Teheran points to 2 issues

VIENNA－Washington said on Wednesday that it was "close" to a deal with Iran on reviving a 2015 pact that saw Western powers provide sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on Teheran's nuclear program, the latest sign of advancement following prolonged deadlock.

Now, a successful resolution appears more viable than at any point in years.

"We are close to a possible deal, but we're not there yet," said United States State Department spokesman Ned Price. "We do think the remaining issues can be bridged."

But Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday that two issues remain with the US before reaching a deal.

Negotiations began last April with Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia. Iran has been engaged in direct talks in Vienna to revive the accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The US, which unilaterally pulled out of the deal in 2018, is participating indirectly.

"We had four issues as our red lines", but "two issues have almost been resolved", Hossein Amir Abdollahian was quoted by Iranian state news agency IRNA as saying on Wednesday. He added that "two issues remain, including (an) economic guarantee".

He did not elaborate on those issues.

"If the American side fulfills our two remaining demands today, we will be ready to go to Vienna tomorrow," he said.

Amir Abdollahian's remarks came a day after his visit to Moscow, where his counterpart Sergey Lavrov said Russia had received the necessary guarantees from Washington on trade with Iran.

Speaking to reporters, Price declined to confirm Teheran's claim that there was just a pair of final issues to be sorted out.

But he said the issues are surmountable, although the 11-month-old talks "are at a very delicate stage".

"There is little time remaining given the nuclear advancements that Teheran has made" toward developing nuclear weapons that would undermine any agreement, he said.

Enrique Mora, the European Union diplomat chairing the Vienna talks, told reporters last week that delegations were down to negotiating the footnotes of the text.

Agencies Via Xinhua