The United States pledged to continue negotiations aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement after the election of Ebrahim Raisi as the new president of Iran, while a high-level meeting of the parties to the agreement will be held on Sunday in Vienna, amid expectations of holding a seventh round of talks.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Saturday that his country will continue negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, and work alongside its allies and partners in this regard.
Price expressed Washington's regret for depriving the Iranians of a free and fair electoral process, as he put it.
The statements of the American spokesman come after the confirmation of conservative candidate Ibrahim Raisi winning 62% of the votes, in the Iranian presidential elections that took place on Friday.
Iranian officials had confirmed before the elections that the victory of the conservative candidate for the presidency would not negatively affect the negotiations taking place since the beginning of last April in the Austrian capital, in an effort to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement concluded between Tehran and the major powers, through the return of the United States to it after its withdrawal from it in a year 2018, and Iran's return to full compliance.
A meeting in Vienna and a possible seventh round
The European Union announced on Saturday that the parties to the nuclear agreement will hold a meeting in Vienna today at the level of foreign ministers' assistants.
The European Union statement said that this meeting aims to discuss a possible return of the United States to the nuclear agreement, and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement.
Diplomatic sources said that after this meeting, the delegations would return to their capitals for consultations, in preparation for a seventh round of talks.
This meeting comes at a time when the New York Times quoted aides to US President Joe Biden, that it is time to reach an agreement with Iran.
The progress of the negotiations and the prospect of the agreement
For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday that the Vienna negotiations to return to the nuclear agreement with Iran are going well.
Zarif expressed his hope to reach an agreement before mid-August, despite acknowledging the existence of some obstacles.
Earlier, the axios news website quoted a US official as saying that the Biden administration wants to conclude a deal to return to the Iranian nuclear agreement within 6 weeks, that is, before the new Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi takes office.
According to the Iranian constitution, the elected president takes office within 45 days of declaring his victory in the elections.
Sources familiar with the negotiations have previously confirmed that significant progress has been made during the past weeks, but issues of contention between the American and Iranian sides still prevent reaching an agreement.