Iran nuclear talks: Tehran says 'significant progress' made in Vienna
Talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have made "significant progress," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday at a weekly press briefing.
Separately, Iran's top security official Ali Shamkhani said discussions with European negotiators were ongoing and would continue while talks with the United States were not on the agenda because they would not be the source of "any breakthroughs".
Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington have been held in the Austrian capital since April.
Khatibzadeh said that while significant progress was made, he noted that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed".
"The remaining issues are the hardest," he told the briefing.
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Khatibzadeh also pointed out that Iran’s highest security body, the Supreme National Security Council, handles the Vienna talks.
The council reports directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's top authority.
Prisoner swap
Last week, Reuters reported that a US-Iranian deal was taking shape after months of indirect talks to revive the nuclear pact, which Washington abandoned in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Washington said that "substantial progress" had been made during the latest talks, deeming an agreement possible within days if Iran "shows seriousness" on the matter.
A draft text of an agreement also alludes to issues including the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian funds held in South Korean banks and the release of western prisoners held in Iran.
Iran is ready to swap prisoners with the United States, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Saturday, adding that talks to revive the nuclear deal could succeed "at the earliest possible time" if Washington made the necessary political decisions.
The 2015 deal limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium to make it harder to develop material for nuclear weapons, in return for a lifting of international sanctions against the country.
Iran, which denies it is developing nuclear weapons, has breached some of the deal's nuclear limits since the US withdrew from it and reimposed hard-hitting sanctions under Trump.
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