The nuclear talks in Vienna appear to be in the final stretch, but the Iranian and Western negotiators both claim the ball is in the other's court.
What they're saying: Iran chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri wrote on Twitter Wednesday that "we are closer than ever to an agreement" but "our negotiating partners need to be realistic, avoid intransigence and heed lessons" of the past four years, adding: "Time for their serious decisions."
- Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in the daily briefing that the talks in Vienna are entering "a decisive period". He stressed that "in the coming days" the Biden administration will determine whether Iran is willing to take the decisions needed to get back to the nuclear deal.
- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also told Parliament on Wednesday that a return to the 2015 nuclear deal could be only days away, but that Iran still needed to make the key political decisions.
- But Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in a phone call on Tuesday that while Iran’s initiatives in the talks had “brought the deal within reach,” the Western powers needed to act responsibly to get a final agreement, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
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