A meeting in Vienna and a comment from Zarif ... Europe is preparing the atmosphere for American-Iranian negotiations and expects an agreement within two months.

The international powers have intensified their diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement that would lead to Washington's return to the nuclear agreement and Tehran's commitment to all of its provisions.

While the European Union revealed the proximity of the two parties' engagement in negotiations in Vienna, Iran expected the lifting of sanctions quickly and saw that there was no need for a meeting with the Americans.

The European Union announced today, Friday, that it will hold meetings in Vienna next Tuesday with all signatories to the nuclear deal, including the United States, in order to clearly define the lifting of sanctions and the implementation of the nuclear pledges.

A senior EU official said there would be no direct talks between America and Iran, "but rather indirect talks."

The European official said, "The talks between Iran, the United States and world powers will seek to set up two lists to negotiate the sanctions that Washington can lift and the nuclear obligations that Tehran must fulfill."

He added that all parties hope to reach an agreement within two months.

"We are negotiating the list of nuclear commitments and the list of lifting sanctions. The two lists will have to be merged at some point. In the end, we are dealing with that in a parallel manner. I think we can do that in less than two months," the senior official said.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Western diplomats as saying that Washington will participate in meetings that will start next week in Vienna to discuss a return to the nuclear agreement with Iran, which is the first participation of its kind for Washington under President Biden.

The newspaper added that these meetings will not include direct talks between US and Iranian officials.

Joint efforts

The announcement of the Vienna meeting came after talks that took place remotely between Tehran and the "4 + 1" group, regarding the Iran nuclear deal.

The European Union announced that the participants in the "4 + 1" meeting expressed their willingness to make joint efforts for Washington's full return to the nuclear agreement.

The Iranian "IRNA" agency reported that the hypothetical meeting of the joint committee of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the "4 + 1" group was held under the chairmanship of the representative of the European Union, the political director of the bloc, Enrique Mora, on behalf of the European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.

The meeting was held at the level of political assistants and directors of the foreign ministries of the "4 + 1" group and Iran.

Fast results

For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, "The goal of next Tuesday's meeting is a speedy end to the sanctions, followed by an Iranian moratorium to reduce commitments to the nuclear agreement."

He added, "There is no need for an Iranian-American meeting."

In 2018, former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, and re-imposed harsh sanctions on Tehran.

The administration of the new US President, Joe Biden, announced its readiness to return to the nuclear agreement in exchange for Tehran's return to all of its obligations under it.

Iran insists the United States should take the first step by lifting the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.