TEHRAN -- Iran and the P4+1 group of countries on Friday announced a pause in Vienna talks on a possible revival of the 2015 Iran deal, with Tehran saying that all relevant parties will concentrate on a “successful conclusion” of the diplomatic process.
The pause was first announced in a tweet by the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who said the break was needed due to what he called “external factors.”
“A final text is essentially ready and on the table,” Borrell said, adding that he and his team will be in contact with all the five parties to the 2015 deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the U.S. to “overcome the current situation and to close the agreement.”
Replying to Borrell’s tweet shortly afterwards, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the pause could provide a “momentum” for resolving any remaining issues and a “final return” to the negotiations.
“Successful conclusion of talks will be the main focus of all [the parties involved],” Khatibzadeh tweeted.
He, however, said “no external factor” can affect the parties’ joint will “to go forward for a collective agreement.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said he had held “useful and constructive” talks with Borrell, and that efforts were underway for achieving a “good, strong and lasting” agreement.
“An agreement is at hand if the U.S. side behaves realistically,” the foreign minister said. “It is collective agreement based on wisdom, and not a unilateral approach, that decides the outcome of the Vienna talks.”
The Vienna talks began last April between Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA —Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — on the assumption that the US, under the Biden administration,

is willing to repeal the so-called maximum pressure policy pursued by former president, Donald Trump, against Tehran.
Iran says it won’t settle for anything less than the removal of all U.S. sanctions in a verifiable manner. It also wants guarantees that Washington would not abandon the agreement again.
The Chinese lead negotiator to the Vienna talks expressed regret over the pause and said Beijing hoped that continued dialog and negotiation will be pursued, which is “the only way for a solution.”
Wang Qun, the Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, added that his country had always believed that the “concerns of all parties need to be looked at very expressly.”