TEHRAN, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that his country's current talks with the European Union (EU) "are focused on finding practical solutions to the current problems and impasse in Vienna," as reported by the official website of Iran's foreign ministry.
He made the remarks in a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday after an EU official visited Tehran, and described talks between Iranian officials and Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora as "positive."
Both Iranian and EU representatives expressed satisfaction and readiness to continue negotiations, Amir Abdollahian told Lavrov, according to the report.
Mora arrived on Thursday on a one-day visit to Iran's capital and met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri.
The meeting was focused on finding "practical solutions" to the current state of the Vienna talks aimed at reviving the 2015 international agreement on Iran's nuclear program, Amir Abdollahian said.
The head of Iran's diplomacy said the Vienna talks are at an impasse, and blamed the United States for what he described as a lack of commitment to a "complete and effective lifting of unilateral and illegal sanctions" against Iran.
Bagheri and Mora agreed to continue consultations in the next two weeks, said the Iranian foreign minister.
As reported by the official Iranian outlet, Lavrov for his part welcomed the talks between Iran and the EU, and said he had instructed Russian diplomats to hold close consultations with Iranian officials to follow up on the nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In recent weeks, Iranian officials have answered western demands for an "immediate" resumption of the Vienna talks by saying that they need some time to coordinate the new Iranian negotiating team, after the current Iranian cabinet took office in late August.
After six rounds of talks in Vienna between Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and Iran, with the United States indirectly involved, Iran recently said its current administration, which assumed office in late August, needed "a reasonable amount of time" to prepare its negotiating team and strategy.
The nuclear talks that began in April sought to bring Washington back to the table and persuade Tehran to assume compliance with the commitments it dropped after former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the accord in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Enditem
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