Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator in the negotiations to revive the Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna, said that he is dealing realistically with the new round of negotiations that started today, Thursday, at a time when the American and Israeli defense ministers are holding talks, led by Tehran's nuclear file.
Mora added that this tour is difficult given the different views among the delegations, and because time is limited, as he put it.
At the same time, he stressed the seriousness of all parties to reach an agreement.
He explained that the International Atomic Energy Agency will play an important role in monitoring Iran's activities if an agreement is reached, praising the current cooperation and communication between Tehran and the agency.
The European coordinator in the Vienna negotiations stressed that he felt in all the negotiating delegations a feeling of the necessity of reaching an agreement to revive the joint action plan, noting that the coming days would confirm or deny this, as he put it.
The seventh round of negotiations resumed after the spring session that took place in April, and was interrupted in June due to the election of a new Iranian president.
It only resumed on November 29.
The talks broke down last week when European and American officials expressed their dissatisfaction with demands made by the Iranian government.
For his part, the chief Iranian negotiator, Ali Bagheri, said that his country has seriousness and a real will for serious negotiations, and that it does not see an obstacle to reaching an agreement if the necessary foundations are available.
In a statement after the meeting of the Joint Committee for the Nuclear Agreement today in Vienna, Bagheri added that the response of the opposite party to the Iranian proposals will become clear during the meetings of the relevant committees, noting that the opposite party participated in today's negotiations in a more serious manner than before.
The Iranian official criticized Washington, saying that it was practicing "unconstructive sabotage measures" during the negotiations, and "everyone condemns this," noting that resolving the dispute over lifting sanctions requires a serious will and readiness from the other side.
He stressed that the lifting of sanctions would create a serious opportunity for progress in the negotiations, especially on nuclear measures.
And under the agreement concluded by Iran and six world powers (the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China) in 2015, Iran reduced its nuclear program in exchange for easing the sanctions of the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.
However, former US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed tough US sanctions on Tehran, and a year later Iran began violating the restrictions of the agreement.
military coordination
In the meantime, the American and Israeli defense ministers are holding talks, led by the Iranian nuclear file.
The Pentagon said that officials will discuss with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz later on Thursday common concerns about Iran.
But the ministry declined to comment on a Reuters report that talked about discussions about the possibility of holding military exercises focused on Iran.
On Wednesday, an exclusive report to Reuters quoted a senior US official as saying that the defense leaders of the United States and Israel are expected to discuss possible military exercises that would prepare for the worst possible scenario for the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails and if the leaders of the two countries so request.
"I know there is interest in a particular Reuters report," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing.
"All I will tell you is: We routinely conduct exercises with our Israeli counterparts and today I have nothing to announce, talk about, refer to or speculate on," he added.
Israeli and American media had indicated an Israeli-American willingness to discuss a possible targeting of Iranian nuclear facilities if diplomacy failed, and identical sources suggested that US Defense Ministers Lloyd Austin and Israeli Benny Gantz would discuss today, Thursday, joint military exercises simulating targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.