Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani

Iran’s chief negotiator to the Vienna talks says Iran and the five remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement are resolving the outstanding issues as diplomatic efforts are continuing in the Austrian capital to secure the removal of all sanctions that the United States has imposed on Tehran following its unilateral withdrawal from the deal three years after its conclusion.

Ali Bagheri Kani made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Saturday after meetings with representatives of the P4+1 group of countries -- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, IRNA reported.

He added that the talks aimed at removing the US sanctions are advancing and moving forward.

Following talks with the Iranian lead negotiator, diplomats of the P4+1 countries reportedly held a meeting with the US representative and discussed the latest developments pertaining to the Vienna talks.

Iran and the P4+1 group of countries resumed talks in Vienna on Monday after the parties took a three-day break for the New Year. The US is not allowed to directly attend the talks due to its pullout in 2018 from the landmark deal with Iran.

The eighth round of the Vienna talks began on December 27 with a focus on the removal of all US sanctions. The US is not allowed to directly attend the talks due to its pullout in 2018 from the landmark deal with Iran.

During the previous round of the talks, the first under Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raeisi, Iran presented new proposals at the negotiating table to help the talks move forward and later criticized the European signatories of the JCPOA for failing to follow suit and remaining passive.

Tehran’s chief negotiator told reporters on Wednesday that the Vienna talks are positive and forward-moving and emphasized that efforts were underway to achieve results from the talks.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera news network on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said during sanctions removal talks in Vienna, Tehran seeks guarantees that no further sanctions will be imposed on the country once they are removed.

We seek removal of sanctions that were imposed on Iran by former US President Donald Trump, especially those sanctions that are at odds with the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said.

He added, We also want guarantees that no new sanctions are imposed and that the existing sanctions would not be reimposed once they are removed.

Vienna talks delegates moving forward; Not fast but incrementally

Meanwhile, the Russian chief negotiator to the Vienna negotiations, Mikhail Ulyanov, said in a tweet that the talks between Iran and the five countries are moving forward not fast but incrementally.

I would say that the atmosphere at the ViennaTalks is positive and businesslike. Judging by my contacts with other counterparts, they share this assessment, Ulyanov tweeted on Saturday.

In another tweet, the Russian diplomat said the working group on sanctions lifting also held talks earlier in the day to assess the current state of affairs in the Vienna talks.