Diplomats from Iran, France, Germany, Russia, the US, and the UK were set to convene in Vienna for renewed nuclear talks Monday.
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Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani will head the Iranian delegation when its members meet with officials at the Palais Coburg for talks, to be chaired by EU diplomat Enrique Mora.
To date, seven rounds of talks have failed to make progress on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, which the US withdrew from unilaterally under former President Donald Trump.
A source with knowledge of the talks was quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency as saying, "The French delegation did not play a constructive role in the last round of talks and even slowed down the negotiation process."
Meanwhile, the front page of the pro-regime Tehran Times newspaper had a message for Western states on Monday with the headline: "Artificial deadlines delay progress in Vienna talks."
"While Iran emphasized its draft proposal was subject to negotiation, the US and the E3 – France, Britain, and Germany – chose to depict Iran as an uncooperative and unserious partner. They even alluded to the failure of the talks based on the fruit of their imagination," the paper said.
The Islamic Republic has conditioned the signing of a new agreement on the removal of all sanctions currently imposed on Tehran.
Meanwhile, Russia's envoy to the Vienna talks Mikhail Ulyanov praised a statement from Atomic Energy Organization of Iran director Mohammed Eslami Friday in which he said his country has no plans to enrich uranium beyond 60% if nuclear talks in Vienna fail. Ulyanov called Eslami's remarks "a positive message at the start of an eighth round of talks."
A source with close ties to the delegation from Tehran told Iranian journalist Abas Aslani: "Iran is arriving in full force and will remain in Vienna as long as necessary."
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem last week to discuss the Iran nuclear talks. At the Wednesday meeting, Bennett emphasized, "What is happening in Vienna has far-reaching ramifications for the stability of the Middle East and Israel's security for the next few years."
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