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The Iranian government confirmed Monday that new talks with the Biden administration to reinstate the 2015 nuclear pact will begin this week in a Persian Gulf country.
“The talks will take place this week, in the coming days, in a Persian Gulf country,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzade told a press conference.
“The dates and venue are almost decided and final decisions will be made in the coming hours,” Jatibzade said.
The spokesman reiterated that the “talks between Iran and the United States will be indirect” with the European Union as an intermediary.
Talks to salvage the 2015 nuclear pact that was supposed to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions have been stalled since March.
Last weekend the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, traveled to Tehran to break the “impasse.”
Borrell announced with Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdolahian a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States to address outstanding bilateral issues.
These talks will be separate from those in Vienna, where Iran is negotiating with Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and the United States indirectly, the restoration of the pact.
Borrell explained that the technical issues relating to nuclear aspects or the lifting of sanctions are closed, but that bilateral issues remain between Tehran and Washington.
One such issue concerns the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Iran insists that the U.S. must lift sanctions against that elite military corps.
The 2015 nuclear pact was abandoned by former President Donald Trump, who claimed that the Iranian regime, in addition to failing to meet its obligations, was taking advantage of the concessions made by the then Obama Administration to profit and finance terrorist operations.
In recent weeks, tensions have increased over Iran’s nuclear program following the resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors against Iran for its lack of transparency.
Tehran responded by shutting down 27 surveillance cameras at different nuclear facilities.
