Iran Deputy FM on 'constructive' meeting in Vienna

Iran's deputy foreign minister described a meeting of world powers in Vienna on Tuesday as "constructive" after efforts began to try to bring the United States back into the foundering 2015 nuclear deal.

The talks between envoys from Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and Iran came as the U.S. was due to start its own indirect talks with Iran.

Speaking to state TV, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi repeated his country's policy that the U.S. must first take action and lift all sanctions before Iran would return to full compliance with the deal.

He said a step-by-step approach won't be neccessary.

"It is completely clear what Americans must do regarding the sanctions and what Iran must do to resume full compliance of the nuclear deal," he said.

"Thus, all of these actions can be carried out in one stage," following a verification process, he added.

At the meeting, participants agreed to establish two expert-level groups, one on the lifting of sanctions and one on nuclear issues.

Araghchi added that Iran and U.S. representatives were not and would not be present at the same time at any meeting regarding Iran's contentious nuclear issue.

It would be one of the first signs of tangible progress in efforts to return both nations to the accord, which restricted Iran's nuclear program in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.

Following the closed meetings of the signatories to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Russia's delegate, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted that the initial talks were "successful."

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of the accord, opting for what he called a maximum-pressure campaign involving restored and additional American sanctions.

Since then, Iran has been steadily violating restrictions in the deal, like the amount of enriched uranium that it can stockpile and the purity to which it can be enriched.

Tehran's moves have been calculated to pressure the other nations in the deal to do more to offset crippling U.S. sanctions reimposed under Trump.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama when the original deal was negotiated, has said he wants to bring the U.S. back into the JCPOA but that Iran must reverse its violations.

Iran argues that the U.S. violated the deal first with its withdrawal, so Washington has to take the first step by lifting sanctions.