Iran says will only return to Vienna to finalise N-deal

TEHRAN: Iran will only return to Vienna to finalise an agreement to revive its landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

"We will not be going to Vienna for new negotiations but to finalise the nuclear agreement," Khatibzadeh told reporters in Tehran. However, Iran said there were still outstanding issues that it was waiting on Washington to settle.

"At the moment, we do not yet have a definitive answer from Washington," Khatibzadeh said. "If Washington answers the outstanding questions, we can go to Vienna as soon as possible." Tehran has been engaged in negotiations to revive the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia directly, and the United States indirectly.

Iranian and US delegations in Vienna do not communicate directly, but messages are passed through other participants and the European Union, the talks’ coordinator. Nearly a year of negotiations have brought the parties close to renewing the 2015 accord. But the talks were halted last month, after Russia demanded guarantees that Western sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine would not damage its trade with Iran.