US: Iran nuclear talks in 'decisive period'

The United States is in "the midst of the very final stages" of indirect talks with Iran aimed at salvaging a 2015 deal limiting Tehran's nuclear activities, State Department spokesperson Ned Price has said.

"This is really the decisive period during which we'll be able to determine whether a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is in the offing, or if it's not," Price told reporters on Wednesday using an abbreviation for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action –– the 2015 deal with world powers. 

READ MORE: US: Only a few weeks left to save Iran nuclear deal

'We are closer than ever to agreement'

Also on Wednesday, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani said on Twitter that "after weeks of intensive talks, we are closer than ever to an agreement; nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, though."

'It is a question of days'

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the tattered agreement resumed last week after a 10-day hiatus.

Iran has just days left to accept a deal on its nuclear programme at talks in Vienna, France said, warning that a major crisis would be unleashed if there is no agreement.

"It is not a question of weeks, it is a question of days," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Senate, adding that the "moment of truth" had now arrived in the marathon process.

World powers are entering the final stage of talks with Iran in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 deal, which was rendered moribund by the US walking out of the accord in 2018.

The administration of president Donald Trump reimposed sanctions against Iran, battering the Iranian economy, while Tehran ramped up its nuclear work in response in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

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