A diplomat who asked not to be named told AFP that no timetable had been fixed for solving the dispute, adding “we are still far from a result”.
“We all want to save the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is known) so that the inspectors can continue their work in Iran,” the diplomat said, referring to the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Vienna-based UN nuclear agency has been tasked with monitoring the deal’s implementation and issues regular reports, the latest of which is expected within days.
Western diplomats believe Iran is highly unlikely to heed calls to come back into full compliance without substantial concessions in return, such as an end to US sanctions or Europe taking measures to offset their economic impact.
The diplomat told AFP that Iran could also “at least freeze its uranium stocks” as a possible positive outcome of the current discussions.
At a major international security conference in Munich earlier this month, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran would be prepared to move back towards the deal if Europe provides “meaningful” economic benefits.
A joint commission meeting was held on Wednesday at the level of deputy foreign ministers and director generals of P4+1, with the representatives of EU, Germany, France, Russia, China, the UK, and Iran in attendance.
The meeting was co-chaired by Araghchi and European External Action Service Secretary General Helga Schmid.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal are willing to preserve it, reiterating that the pact is “still alive”.
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