Abbas Araqchi said the negotiating teams present in the talks have not yet decided on some key issues.

“Talks on reviving the JCPOA will continue after the May 21 deadline,” he said, referring to the date when an agreement between Iran and the IAEA expires.

“The Iranian delegation is leaving Vienna hoping that it can resume work next week,” said the senior negotiator.

He further expressed hope that the discussions will produce the desired outcome.

He said that while “a framework or structure” of an agreement has been reached, differences still remain on “some key issues.”

“We cannot yet say that the work has finished, but very good progress has been made, and we are hopeful that next week, when the talks resume, all delegations will have made the necessary decisions [in their capitals] to reach an agreement,” Araqchi said.

He further underlined that Iran will, later on, decide on the possibility of continuing its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Meanwhile, at the end of Thursday meeting, the Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted, “The 4th round of the Vienna talks is over. The #JCPOA participants at their meeting today noted that “good”or “significant” progress was made and that an agreement is “within reach”. The Joint Commission will resume its work early next week. Hopefully the 5th round will be final.”

Meanwhile the U.N. nuclear watchdog is still in talks with Iran on how to proceed with a three-month monitoring deal that expired on Friday, it said on Thursday, adding that it will provide an update within days.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran announced in February that although Tehran would reduce cooperation with the IAEA including by ending snap inspections, they had struck a deal on continuing “necessary” IAEA monitoring and verification activities in Iran.

The arrangement is important to keeping indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal on track. Senior diplomats from France, Britain and Germany warned on Wednesday that finding a solution is critical.

“(IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Vice-President of Iran and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, on 21 February agreed on a temporary bilateral technical understanding (for up to 3 months) that remains in effect,” the IAEA said in a statement.

“The Agency and Iran are currently in consultations regarding the implementation of the existing understanding. The Director General will provide an update to the (IAEA) Board of Governors in the coming days,” it added.

The IAEA has described a black-box-type system in which data is collected without the IAEA being able to access it immediately. Diplomats say it includes real-time monitoring of Iran’s uranium-enrichment levels and that the equipment might simply keep running for a time in the absence of an extension.

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Shahrokh Nazemi, head of the media office of Iran’s permanent mission to the UN, said Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi held a virtual meeting with Senator Murphy on Tuesday afternoon in which they discussed the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna.

Takht Ravanchi underlined the need for practical removal of all U.S. sanctions on Iran which were imposed under various labels, calling the removal of sanctions “a key issue.”

During the meeting, Iran’s ambassador to the UN also clarified Tehran’s position for a peaceful end to the war in Yemen.

“In the talks, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s will for a peaceful settlement of the war in Yemen was noted, and it was stressed that any solution to the Yemeni crisis must ensure the complete lifting of the siege and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the country and a ceasefire,” Nazemi said, according to Fars News.

He added, “As to the Zionists’ crimes against the Palestinian people it was underlined that the recent clash began with the Zionist regime’s provocation and continued with the killing of the Palestinian people, but in recent days the U.S. government, by supporting Israel, has blocked adoption of a statement by the Security Council on a ceasefire.”

Nazemi pointed out that the position of the Islamic Republic on the comprehensive exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States was also emphasized.

The remarks came after Murphy, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, issued a statement on Tuesday saying that he met with Takht Ravanchi.

Murphy “on Tuesday met with Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations. The two discussed the Iran nuclear deal, the war in Yemen, and the release of American prisoners in Iran,” the statement said.

“I made the case directly to Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi today for the Iranians to engage with seriousness and urgency in nuclear negotiations,” the senator said, adding that he also sought Iran’s help in cooling down the situation in Yemen and Palestine.

The senator’s statement also pointed to the recent visit by Murphy to the region.

“Earlier this month, Murphy’s traveled to Qatar, Oman and Jordan to meet with foreign leaders and senior officials including Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Omani Foreign Minister Al-Busaidi, Qatari Foreign Minister Al-Thani, United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths and several European ambassadors to Yemen to discuss the humanitarian crisis and urgent need to find a political solution to end the war in Yemen,” the statement said.

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In response to a question whether the appointment of individuals like Robert Malley as US Special Representative for Iran’s Affairs can have an impact in reducing tensions between Tehran and Washington, he pointed out that US officials who are appointed in different posts are not important, rather, performance and behavior of the new US government under Biden is of paramount importance for Iran.

Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal, JCPOA, in May 2018 and imposed sanctions against Iran, he said, adding, “The United States even punished those countries which were observing JCPOA terms and conditions.”

“We waited for a year, we worked within the framework of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and we wanted to force the European countries to implement it. In 2019, we announced that we would reduce our obligations under JCPOA, and in the same year, we started to reduce our obligations by following the strategy. Unfortunately, European countries have not been able to meet their obligations under JCPOA,” Zarif added.

If the US government ends its sanctions and refuses to interfere in Iran’s economic cooperation with the world, Tehran will fulfill its obligations within the framework of JCPOA, he added.

In continuation of his regional trip with the aim of bilateral and regional consultations with the Russian officials, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif after wrapping up his visit to Azeri capital Baku arrived in Moscow on Tuesday and left Moscow for the Armenian capital Yerevan on Tuesday night.

The first round of talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his counterpart, the Armenian Foreign Minister is currently underway.

Prior to his Armenia visit, the Iranian Foreign Minister visited Baku, Azerbaijan, and Moscow. After Armenia, Zarif will follow its regional tour by flying to Georgia and Turkey.

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif has started a regional tour to Russia, Turkey, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia in a bid to boost friendship and economic cooperation in the new atmosphere of the world, following the departure of former US President Donald Trump from the White House.

Heading a delegation, the Iranian foreign minister paid a visit to Baku and held talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, his counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov as well as Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev on Monday.

FM Zarif described the negotiations with Azeri officials as fruitful, saying that “the path to reach sustainable peace comes from regional cooperation.”

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In comments on Monday, Namaki expounded on the topics discussed in a recent online meeting he held with his counterparts from the WHO member states, saying he called on the WHO to intervene to lift the cruel sanctions against Iran and other nations that have hindered the acquisition of medicine and vaccine amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Namaki also noted that he highlighted Iran’s fair medical services in the videoconference, saying the Islamic Republic has provided free treatment for all people after the COVID-19 outbreak, even for foreign refugees.

The minister further noted that Iran has voiced support for the WHO as an organization that is connecting nations in the war on the coronavirus.

“We condemned the American move to weaken the World Health Organization, which happened for the first time,” he added.

US President Donald Trump has suspended the WHO funding over what he called the UN body’s “mismanagement” of the new coronavirus pandemic, in a move that has drawn widespread international condemnation.

The US president has repeatedly accused the WHO of siding with China and reliance on Chinese data, blaming it for “all sorts of false information about transmission and mortality” that was circulated amid initial reports.

The US contributed $400 million to the WHO last year, roughly 15% of its budget.

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