World powers and Iran reconvened in Vienna on Monday after a nearly six-month break, to negotiate an Iranian and American return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal.
The talks ended after about four hours with an agreement to start with a discussion of lifting sanctions on Tuesday, "and then other issues," as Iran's lead negotiator and Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani put it, avoiding explicitly mentioning negotiations to limit Iran's nuclear program.
Iran agreed to build on the first six rounds of talks, which took place between April and June of this year, including a nuclear working group, despite Iranian officials’ statements ahead of the talks that the negotiations would not be about their nuclear program.
EU negotiator and Political Director Enrique Mora said "there is a sense of urgency of putting the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] back in place."
"We have taken stock of the difficult circumstances of the JCPOA," Mora stated. "Over the recent months, the Iranian nuclear program has advanced and at the same time, the US are imposing the same sanctions."
The negotiations took place in the Palais Coburg in Vienna, the same place in which the JCPOA was signed. The American and Iranian teams were situated in separate rooms, because the Islamic Republic’s representatives refuse to negotiate directly with the Americans.