Iranian media said that the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had rejected a US proposal to lift the sanctions according to the principle of step by step.

On Friday, the European Union announced that it would hold meetings in Vienna next Tuesday with all the parties that signed 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.

For his part, the US State Department spokesman said that Washington will participate in the Vienna meeting to discuss the mutual return of the Iranian nuclear agreement.

"We believe that the Vienna meeting is a healthy step forward," he added in an interview with Al-Jazeera.

But he made it clear that Washington does not expect an immediate breakthrough in the Iranian nuclear file, and said, "We do not currently expect to hold direct talks with Iran."

On the other hand, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad 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.