Time, venue of new round of nuclear talks being finalized: Iranian negotiator

TEHRAN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said Sunday that the time and venue of a new round of talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are being finalized, according to the official IRNA news agency.

"The negotiations in Doha took place within a pre-determined framework," Bagheri Kani said, adding that "the time and venue of next negotiations are being finalized in the exchanges" between Iran and the European Union (EU).

He did not specify whether the next round of talks will take place in the format of Iran and the P4+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany) or will be held indirectly between Iran and the United States.

Iran and the United States held indirect talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha, with the mediation of EU coordinator Enrique Mora, to address their differences over the revival of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The Doha talks did not bear results, but Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian described the talks as "positive."

Iran signed the JCPOA with the world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.

The Iranian nuclear talks began in April 2021 in Vienna, but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington.