Iran sticks to stance as nuclear talks resume

Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Enrique Mora and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani with delegations wait for the start of a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria (REUTERS) 

VIENNA, DEC 9 (REUTERS) - Iran’s top negotiator said on Thursday he was sticking to positions Tehran set out when nuclear talks broke off last week, while European Union and Russian envoys called for more urgency as world powers resumed negotiations in Vienna.

The indirect U.S.-Iranian talks in Vienna, in which other diplomats from the remaining parties to a now tattered 2015 deal - France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China - shuttle between them because Tehran refuses direct contact with Washington, aim to get both sides to resume full compliance with the accord.

However, last week’s discussions broke off with European and U.S. officials voicing dismay at sweeping demands by Iran’s new, hardline government under anti-Western President Ebrahim Raisi, whose June election caused a five-month hiatus in the talks.

Western officials have said Iran has abandoned many compromises it had made in the previous six rounds of talks, pocketed those made by others, and demanded more last week.