VIENNA -- Western diplomats have expressed guarded optimism and relief after the first day of resumed talks with Iran in Vienna made unexpected progress, the Guardian has reported.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Enrique Mora, claimed Iran had agreed that the talks could resume largely where they had ended in June, rather than with an entirely new agenda.
“The Iranian delegation recognizes the work we have done in the past six rounds and the fact that we will build on this work going ahead,” he said.
Ali Baqeri, the new Iranian chief negotiator, said he was optimistic, but that he was looking for a U.S. guarantee that it would not only remove a swath of economic sanctions but also promise not to reimpose them in the future.
Baqeri also referred to everything discussed thus far as merely a “draft.”
“Drafts are subject to negotiation. Therefore nothing is agreed on unless everything has been agreed on,” Baqeri said. “On that basis, all discussions that took place in the six rounds are summarized and are subject to negotiations. This was admitted by all parties in today’s meeting as well.”
The official also demanded a “guarantee by America not to impose new sanctions” or not to reimpose previously removed sanctions.
Muhammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, reiterated the demand. “The talks (in Vienna) are about return of the U.S. to the deal and they have to remove all sanctions and this should be in practice and verifiable,” he said.
The U.S. has imposed a slew of sanctions on Iran since the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution.
Talks in Vienna resumed Monday after a more than five-month hiatus as President Ebrahim Raisi took office. President Raisi campaigned on getting sanctions removed.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s top representative to the talks, tweeted Tuesday that the resumption of negotiations was “quite successful.”
“Participants decided to continue without delay the drafting process in two working groups — on sanctions lifting and nuclear issues,” he wrote. “This work starts immediately.”
The talks are due to last at least two further days, with Tuesday dedicated to negotiating the sanctions that will be removed.
The talks are between Iran, Russia, China, Germany, France and the UK. The U.S. is excluded from the negotiations because it is no longer a signatory of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the British decision to host the occupying regime of Israel’s foreign minister on the day the talks
 started. It said: “The UK issues anti-Iran statements with the Israeli regime – a nuclear-holder and enemy of the 2015 nuclear agreement. Utter lack of goodwill and an evident sign that London doesn’t seek to preserve the deal. You can’t have lunch with the foe of a deal and for dinner sit at another table to claim support for the same deal.”
The Zionist regime was due to hold a similar meeting with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday.