愛污传媒

Skip to main content

Tense nuclear talks with Iran to resume Thursday in Vienna

In this Oct. 26, 2010, file photo, a worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr. (AP Photo/Mehr News Agency, Majid Asgaripour, File) In this Oct. 26, 2010, file photo, a worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr. (AP Photo/Mehr News Agency, Majid Asgaripour, File)
Share
BERLIN -

The European diplomat chairing the seventh round of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers says negotiations in Vienna will resume Thursday.

Enrique Mora said Wednesday on Twitter that the parties to the 2015 Vienna accord will meet in the Austrian capital after consulting with their governments in recent days.

European diplomats had urged Tehran to come back with "realistic proposals" after Iran's delegation last week made numerous demands that were deemed unacceptable by the other parties to the accord -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under former U.S. President Donald Trump. His successor, Joe Biden, has indicated that Washington is willing to return, and American diplomats in Vienna are being briefed by other powers.

The Vienna accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was meant to rein in Tehran's nuclear program in return for loosening economic sanctions against Iran.

Following the U.S. decision to withdraw and reimpose sanctions, Iran has ramped up its nuclear program again by enriching uranium beyond the thresholds allowed in the agreement. Tehran has also restricted monitors from the U.N. atomic watchdog from accessing its nuclear facilities, raising concerns about what the country is doing behind closed doors.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said that "some of the thorny issues that confronted us in terms of potentially returning to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action were resolved or were on a pathway to resolution" in previous rounds of talks.

"It was our hope that we would find the Iranians returning to Vienna prepared to work on those remaining issues, building on the progress that had been made in (rounds) one through six," he told reporters in Washington on Wednesday before the resumption of talks was announced. "That is not what we found. It is our hope that round eight proceeds differently."

Russia's top representative expressed hope that an agreement could eventually be reached.

Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted Thursday that contacts with the United States and Iran "prove that both sides are very serious" about reviving the deal, though he added that "their visions of relevant ways and means differ."

"The task of the negotiators is to overcome these differences. It's feasible in the light of unity of purpose," he said.

------

Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Four people are dead and another is in hospital after a Tesla driving through downtown Toronto at a high rate of speed crashed into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar on Lake Shore Boulevard.

It's a dream for many Canadians, trying to save up enough money for a down payment on their very first home. That was also the dream for the Esmeralda family, a family of five with two dogs who currently live in a Scarborough apartment building.

The RCMP is warning residents in northeast Saskatchewan to seek shelter and avoid picking up hitchhikers as police search for a group of armed and dangerous suspects.

Donations are quickly pouring in for the family of a young woman who was found dead inside a Walmart in Halifax last weekend.

A haunted house in the Ontario Town of Innisfil is causing a real scare for some people a week before Halloween.

Local Spotlight

A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.

Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.

He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.

A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.

Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.