The Iran negotiations in Vienna were once again interrupted on Friday.
“External factors” are the reason, wrote EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is coordinating the talks, on Twitter.
In his words, a final text to reinstate the 2015 nuclear agreement would be “essentially finished and on the table”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdolahian also tweeted on Friday night that a "good and lasting agreement" is "within reach if the United States acts realistically and without contradiction."
Stephen Lowenstein
Political correspondent based in Vienna.
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The interruption is not due to the actual negotiating parties, as Borrell's reference to external factors suggests, but apparently to Russia's desire to be rewarded for participating in a nuclear deal with a free trade guarantee in relation to Iran.
This would provide a loophole for sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine, and was therefore rejected in Washington.
Tehran also reacted with irritation.
The demand for a free trade guarantee was raised by Moscow last weekend.
The Russian negotiator in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, dismissed the view that Russia was trying to sabotage the negotiations as a "dirty misinterpretation".
Now he explained that the postponement was "not solely due to Russia", and that "other actors" also needed some time.
In fact, that doesn't mean it's broken.
The E3 group (Germany, France, Great Britain) was not in Vienna this week anyway, they were planning to return on Sunday.
An Iranian spokesman said: "No external factor will interfere with our common will to come to a common agreement."