VIENNA – EU deputy foreign policy chief Enrique Mora said Saturday the parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have now a “common basis” on the removal of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Mora’s remarks came after the seventh round of talks in Vienna, confirming Iran’s announcement that the Europeans had accepted its draft proposals on how to proceed with the negotiations.
“Now we have a common basis though not entirely there on sanctions lifting chapter but that bit has a different internal logic so no big deal. Hope that clarifies why next is 8,” Mora tweeted.
Chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani announced on Friday that the three European members of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — known as the E3 — had accepted Iran’s proposals as the basis for future talks.
Bagheri Kani said the pace of reaching an agreement now depended on the will of the other side.
“If the other side accepts the rational views and positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the new round of talks can be the last one and we can achieve a deal in the shortest possible time.”
He said Iran and the P4+1 group of countries had reached consensus on “two new documents for talks both on the issue of sanctions and on the nuclear issue”, referring to the bans that the U.S. imposed on Iran after withdrawing from the deal and the retaliatory nuclear steps that Tehran took away from the accord.
The new round of Vienna talks would be based on the new texts which incorporate Iran’s viewpoints and positions, Bagheri Kani said, after the negotiating sides took a break from their discussion.
The official also rejected claims by the E3 that the pause in the talks had been requested by Iran.
“Iran did not want to stop the negotiations at this stage, but we had agreed at the beginning that it would be necessary for us to take a rest after reaching a draft agreement,” he said.
Iran and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA resumed talks in

Vienna on November 29 after a five-month hiatus. The Islamic Republic maintains that its participation in the talks is aimed at having the U.S. sanctions removed.
China’s lead negotiator said he expected the consensus reached in this round would be translated into a final agreement as soon as possible.
Wang Qun said Iran and the other parties held three weeks of intense negotiations that produced an important consensus and new documents, laying a solid foundation for advancing follow-up negotiations and bringing the JCPOA back on track.
The Iran nuclear issue is now at a crossroads, Wang said, but he saw seriousness, flexibility and pragmatism from all parties.
China expects all parties to continue working in solidarity and to vigorously promote the resumption of the talks in compliance with the JCPOA, he said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow expects that the eighth round of the Vienna talks could lead to a quick “mutually acceptable agreement” as the negotiating parties have shown readiness to make all necessary efforts.
In a statement, the ministry said important progress had been made in the seventh round of the talks that “allows further work” on the removal of the sanctions “to be taken to a new stage”.
All parties involved in the talks “expressed their readiness to make the necessary efforts so that the next eighth round ends with the achievement of a mutually acceptable agreement in a short time”, the statement read.
However, “there are still many difficult political issues, solutions to which are yet to be found”, it added.
Russia’s lead negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov said Saturday both Tehran and Moscow believe that the upcoming round of the Vienna talks “can become the final one”.
The parties may finalize the talks “successfully by late January or early February”, he said in a tweet.