Top US officials say Vienna talks down to final issues

Negotiations to have the United States rejoin the Iran nuclear deal are down to the last issues, two top Biden administration officials told lawmakers Thursday — another sign the once-defunct accord might soon be revived.

Brett McGurk, the National Security Council’s top Middle East aide, and Iran envoy Rob Malley briefed House Foreign Affairs Committee members in a classified setting, Politico reported.

The Austrian capital has been hosting eight rounds of talks aimed at a potential revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 deal between Iran and others. The United States left the deal in 2018 and returned the sanctions that it had lifted.

The Islamic Republic has defined some of the red lines as the inclusion of its missile program and regional influence in a potential deal. Iran has also demanded that the US provide guarantees that it would not be able to leave the deal again and resume the coercive economic measures.

“We are closer to the point of arriving at a final agreement more than any other time,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Britain’s Liz Truss over the phone on Wednesday.

“However, what can turn conclusion of a good and stable agreement into a definite prospect is the United States’ realistic behavior and its refusal from tabling new and wrongful demands,” he said.

RHM/PR