TEHRAN -- France’s foreign minister on Friday struck a positive tone over the ongoing negotiations in Vienna, saying progress has been made in the talks.
Jean-Yves Le Drian said he remains convinced that the parties to the talks can reach a deal.
“We have been heading in a positive direction in the last few days, but time is of the essence, because if we don’t get an accord quickly there will be nothing to negotiate,” he said.
The remarks came after Iran’s chief negotiator said the negotiations with the remaining signatories to the Iran deal were “positive and forward-moving”.
Earlier this week, the U.S. also said the negotiations had shown modest progress.
The eighth round of the talks, the first under Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi, resumed on Monday after adding some new Iranian demands to a working text.
Nour News, affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said the positive attitude of the Western parties to the deal is vastly different from their position in the previous round of the talks.
“The tone of the Western negotiators, which in the previous round was more based on pressure and even threats, has changed and softened to a great extent,” it reported, citing sources close to the negotiating team.
The article maintained that the Western side had initially attempted to overwhelm Iran’s new negotiating team and make it passive.
“The ultimate goal of these measures was to weaken the will of the negotiating team in the course of a decisive struggle for the realization of the rights of the nation,” it said.
The article said the Western parties’ attempts failed as the Iranian team resisted their pressures, noting that the resistance led to the inclusion of Iran’s new positions in the new text about which the negotiators are holding talks.
Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran seeks guarantees that no further sanctions will be imposed on the country once they are removed.
“We seek the removal of the sanctions that were imposed on Iran by Trump, especially those that are at odds with the nuclear deal,” he told Al Jazeera news network.
“We also want guarantees that no new sanctions are imposed and that the existing sanctions would not be reimposed once they are removed.”
The foreign minister said Iran’s oil exports and return of their proceeds are among the guarantees sought by Iran.
Amir-Abdollahian noted that Iran and the United States are exchanging unofficial messages in Vienna in order to facilitate the ongoing talks. “We hear good words from Americans in Vienna, but what is important is to see them take serious steps.”