The delegations participating in the Vienna talks on Iran's nuclear program continued their meetings with a succession of optimistic statements, as Iran confirmed the closeness of reaching an agreement and achieving more progress, while Israel renewed its rejection of the talks' track.

In the latest developments, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that the negotiating parties are close to reaching an agreement in Vienna, but the final step depends on the flexibility of Washington and European countries.

Abdullahian added, in an interview with Euronews, that his country had informed the United States, through mediators and European countries, that the time had come for the Western parties to take the necessary steps and have flexibility.

The Iranian Foreign Minister also stressed that some of the outstanding issues constitute a red line for Iran.

In turn, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said today, Monday, that "the United States must prove with evidence its determination to lift the imposed sanctions."

During a joint press conference with the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, after bilateral talks in Doha, Raisi said that "guarantees are necessary to reach an agreement."

Khatibzadeh: Negotiations are witnessing remarkable progress, but serious decisions are needed from the western parties (Anatolia)

Remarkable progress

Earlier today, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Tehran demands the lifting of all economic sanctions that are not in line with the nuclear agreement, and will not waive this matter.

He added, in his weekly press conference, that the negotiations in Vienna are witnessing remarkable progress, but there is a need for serious decisions from the Western parties, considering that any agreement must include the lifting of all US sanctions, regardless of their name.

He also said that Washington had asked more than once to negotiate with his country to discuss some issues directly, noting that the previous US administration had also demanded a direct meeting, and that his country believed that these measures were showy and worthless steps from that administration for special political goals.

He added that communication is continuing in Vienna with the United States through unofficial documents, but Washington cannot obtain different results by continuing the policy of maximum pressure that the previous administration was practicing, calling on the current administration to take different positions, as he put it.

On the issue of prisoner exchange, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "We attach importance to this issue as it is a humanitarian issue... Negotiations are continuing in earnest separately from the Vienna talks, and there are preliminary understandings in this regard, and we hope that the other parties will abide by them."

In a related matter, the adviser to the Iranian negotiating delegation, Muhammad Marandi, said in statements to Al Jazeera that Israel had no role in the conduct of the Vienna negotiations, and had no influence on the outcome of the negotiations, as he put it.

Marandi added that there is no specific date for signing the agreement, and that the priority is to resolve the remaining differences, considering that what is important for Iran is to return to implementing the nuclear agreement in the long term.

Marandi said that his country did everything it had to do, and that signing any agreement depends on Washington's decision.

Regarding the results of signing the expected agreement, if it happened, Marandi said that any agreement in Vienna would mark the beginning of a new chapter with the countries of the region, especially the Gulf states.

For his part, Iranian National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani said today in a tweet that direct talks with the United States will not lead to any breakthrough, and are not on the agenda of the Iranian negotiating delegation in Vienna.

One of the negotiations sessions held in Vienna since last December (Reuters)

Israel's position

On the other hand, Axios website quoted Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as saying, in a speech to representatives of American Jewish organizations in Jerusalem, that Iran is asking the United States in the Vienna negotiations to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the list of terrorist organizations as a condition for reaching an agreement.

According to "Axios", Bennett did not say whether the administration of President Joe Biden had agreed to remove the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from that list, and the site added that US State Department spokesman Ned Price refused to comment on Bennett's statements.

In turn, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid described the nuclear agreement being worked on as worse than the previous one;

He said, "Iran's conditions for removing the Revolutionary Guards from the terrorist list are brazen, and the world cannot agree to them," as he put it.

Lapid also told the Israeli Knesset, that Israel is not bound by the agreement, and that it has a strong army and a firm government, and it will not hesitate to move if necessary, he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli said that Israel will address its concerns about reviving the Iran nuclear deal through future bilateral arrangements with the United States.