EU Top Envoy to Iran Nuclear Talks Says Confident Deal Will Be Reached

Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, speaks to the media outside a hotel, during a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission, in Vienna, Austria, May 19, 2021. (Reuters)
Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, speaks to the media outside a hotel, during a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission, in Vienna, Austria, May 19, 2021. (Reuters)
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EU Top Envoy to Iran Nuclear Talks Says Confident Deal Will Be Reached

Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, speaks to the media outside a hotel, during a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission, in Vienna, Austria, May 19, 2021. (Reuters)
Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, speaks to the media outside a hotel, during a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission, in Vienna, Austria, May 19, 2021. (Reuters)

The EU official leading talks to revive Iran's nuclear deal said on Wednesday he was "quite sure" an agreement would be reached as the negotiations adjourned for a week.

The talks resumed in Vienna on May 7 with the remaining parties to the deal - Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - meeting in the basement of a luxury hotel, and the United States based in another hotel across the street.

Iran has refused to hold direct talks with the United States on how to resume compliance with the deal, which former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, prompting Tehran to begin violating its terms about a year later.

"I am quite sure that there will be a final agreement... I think we are on the right track and we will get an agreement," Enrique Mora, who is coordinating indirect talks between Iran and the United States, told reporters at the end of a fourth round of negotiations in Vienna.

Russia's envoy, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Twitter that participants felt there had been good progress after the latest round and that a deal was "within reach". Ulyanov said he hoped that next week would be the final round.

Asked if he was saying there would be a deal in the next round, Mora said: "I cannot venture such a prediction. What I can venture is that there will be an agreement, yeah, sure."

'Good' progress
Ahead of the meeting, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state TV there had been "good" progress in the talks but "several key issues needed further discussions".

The crux of the original agreement was that Iran committed to rein in its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain the fissile material for a nuclear weapon in return for relief from US, EU and UN sanctions.

"An agreement is shaping up. Now a common understanding on what still needed for US return to #JCPOA, lifting of related sanctions and the resumption of nuclear commitments by Iran," Mora said on Twitter, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Officials have said they hope to reach a deal by May 21, when an agreement between Tehran and the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, on continued monitoring of some Iranian nuclear activities is due to expire.

Mora said Iran was continuing to negotiate with the IAEA on extending that agreement.



In Call with Trump, Türkiye's Erdogan Backs US-Iran Talks, Ukraine Peace Moves

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the Teknofest Aerospace and Technology Fair at the old Ercan Airport in the Turkish-administered part of Nicosia, Cyprus, 03 May 2025. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the Teknofest Aerospace and Technology Fair at the old Ercan Airport in the Turkish-administered part of Nicosia, Cyprus, 03 May 2025. (EPA)
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In Call with Trump, Türkiye's Erdogan Backs US-Iran Talks, Ukraine Peace Moves

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the Teknofest Aerospace and Technology Fair at the old Ercan Airport in the Turkish-administered part of Nicosia, Cyprus, 03 May 2025. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the Teknofest Aerospace and Technology Fair at the old Ercan Airport in the Turkish-administered part of Nicosia, Cyprus, 03 May 2025. (EPA)

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call with US President Donald Trump, expressed support for US negotiations with Iran and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the Turkish presidency said on Monday.

Erdogan invited Trump to visit Türkiye, and said Ankara would continue to take steps to advance cooperation with the United States in many areas, especially in the defense industry, according to the readout of the call shared by the presidency.