In the Austrian capital Vienna, the delegations participating in the talks on the Iranian nuclear file continue to meet with the aim of reaching an agreement, and while Russia confirmed that the negotiations had entered their final stage, Tehran called on Washington for firm guarantees.

The talks aim to reach an agreement under which Tehran and Washington will return to commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed in 2015.

Russia's delegate to the negotiations, Mikhail Ulyanov, confirmed that the talks had entered their final stage, but said they needed more time.

In turn, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said today, Wednesday, that an agreement was "at hand", but warned that if it was not reached within a few days, the world would face an acute "crisis" of nuclear proliferation.

Le Drian said - before the French Senate - that "the more we advance, the more Iran speeds up its nuclear measures, and the less interest the parties have in joining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015 agreement). A matter of days.

The British Financial Times had quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian as saying that his country was not ready for direct negotiations with Washington in the absence of sustainable guarantees of a good agreement.

Abdullahian indicated that the US side refuses to give real guarantees that the administration of President Joe Biden will not withdraw from the agreement.

He said that Tehran has doubts about the seriousness of the negotiating parties regarding lifting the sanctions, calling on the US administration to release part of Iran's money or lift sanctions if it has good intentions.

The ongoing talks in Vienna resumed in late November after being suspended for months (Reuters)

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The Iranian foreign minister revealed that he asked the Iranian negotiators to suggest to the Western parties "that their parliaments or at least their presidents - including the US Congress - declare their commitment to the agreement and return to its implementation in the form of a political declaration."

The agreement concluded in 2015 between Tehran and the major powers included easing sanctions on Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program, but the United States unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018 under President Donald Trump and re-imposed economic sanctions, which prompted Iran to retreat from its commitments.

Iran and the signatories to the 2015 agreement (France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China) are holding talks to revive it, and Washington is participating indirectly in the talks.

Abdullahian: We are still concerned about guarantees that America will not withdraw from the agreement (Reuters)

Abdullahian added that "Iran's obligations are clear as a mathematical equation," saying, "What we should do and how these measures will be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency are completely clear, so there is no need to worry at the other end."

"But we are still concerned about guarantees that America will not withdraw from the agreement," he said, adding, "We are facing problems in this period because the other side lacks a serious initiative."

Talks resumed in Vienna in late November after being suspended for months, following the election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in June.

The United States announced a month ago that it was ready for direct talks with Iran to resolve the outstanding problems, but Tehran announced that preconditions must be met before sitting at a negotiating table.

"We are not ready to enter into direct negotiations with the United States if we do not have a clear horizon of reaching a good agreement with permanent guarantees," the Iranian foreign minister added.


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The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council had said earlier on Wednesday on Twitter that the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers had become like an "empty shot."

As part of the latest Western positions on the developments of the file, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told her counterpart Abdullahian in a phone call that the time had come to make final decisions on talks to revive the nuclear agreement, according to a statement from the British Foreign Office.

In this context, a statement issued by the French presidential office said today, Wednesday, that French President Emmanuel Macron and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed on the need to intensify their joint efforts to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran.