A fourth round of talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concludes in Vienna with delegations headed back home for further consultations.

EU coordinator Enrique Mora said there had been substantial progress in the past ten days but that there were still issues that needed to be worked on. Mora said he believed an agreement was possible before Iran’s presidential elections next month.

Iranian lead delegate Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the issues that needed resolution were difficult. Araqchi said Iran is standing firm on its position that the US needs to fully lift all sanctions in a verifiable manner before Tehran can take action to come back to full compliance with the JCPOA.

Reports indicate that though the US has agreed to ease sanctions on various sectors like oil and gas, banking, shipping and insurance there are still differences on sanctioned individuals and entities including Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Questions are also lingering on the fate of Iran’s advanced centrifuges and whether the sanctions will be fully removed or temporarily eased. The sides have decided to meet again next week.