Talks 'closer' to saving Iran nuclear deal

Negotiators are "closer" to saving the Iran nuclear deal but sticking points remain.

VIENNA (AFP) - Negotiators are "closer" to saving the Iran nuclear deal but sticking points remain, diplomats said Sunday at the end of the latest round of talks.

World powers have been meeting since early April to try to bring the US back to the 2015 landmark agreement and Iran back into compliance with it.

Sunday s meeting came a day after ultraconservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi was declared the winner of the Islamic republic s presidential election, replacing moderate Hassan Rouhani.

"We are closer to a deal" but we are still "not there", EU negotiator Enrique Mora, who is chairing the talks, told reporters after the meeting.

Mora added that he expected in the next round "the delegations will come back from the capitals with clearer instructions, clearer ideas on how to finally close the deal".

He did not say when talks would resume, noting that the main problem continued to be finding a solution "in this delicate balance" between lifting US sanctions on Iran and reversing Tehran s stepped-up nuclear activities.

The 2015 accord -- promising Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbing its nuclear programme -- was thrown into disarray in 2018 when then US president Donald Trump withdrew.

He reimposed sanctions, leading Iran in turn to step up its nuclear activities from 2019 onwards.

Mora said the next seventh round of talks would also give "a clearer idea" of Iran s "new political environment" though he pointed out that talks had carried on despite the election.

-  Most difficult issues  remain -

Iran s envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said after the sixth round concluded that "some key issues remain".

"We are close to the end, but the remainder of the path, as I said before, will not be easy," he told state television.

"I am hopeful and think that if the other parties can make their decision, we inshallah (God willing) can reach an agreement that we have demanded and would be favourable" to Iran, he added.

A statement by senior diplomats from Britain, Germany and France said negotiators still needed "to resolve the most difficult issues".

"These talks cannot be open ended... We urge all sides to return to Vienna and be ready to conclude a deal," they said.

Parties to the agreement -- Britain, China, Germany, France, Russia and Iran -- have been meeting in Vienna with indirect US participation to restore the deal.

They had hoped to finish the talks before the Iranian presidential election, but it had become clear recently that they would miss that target.

Besides stepping up its nuclear activities, Tehran in February suspended some inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog.

This led to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to negotiate continued though reduced access. The latest understanding runs out on June 24.

Mora said Iran and the IAEA were in talks to extend the agreement.

"We expect that they will reach an agreement and we can continue our negotiations in a good framework," he said.