VIENNA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said Wednesday that Iran and relevant countries are "closer than ever" to reaching an agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal at the ongoing Vienna talks.
"After weeks of intensive talks, we are closer than ever to an agreement," Bagheri Kani tweeted on Wednesday night. "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, though."
The negotiation is underway in the Austrian capital with diplomats from China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the five other signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The deal is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The United States is participating indirectly in the talks because it withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 when former President Donald Trump was in office.
Since April 2021, the negotiating parties have held eight rounds of talks in Vienna to revive the accord. The parties have been reportedly working to resolve disagreement on thorny matters including sanction relief and economic guarantee.
"Our negotiating partners need to be realistic, avoid intransigence and heed lessons of past decisions," Bagheri Kani said on Twitter, calling for "serious decisions" of the negotiating parties. ■
