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Satellite image of the Iranian nuclear enrichment facility in Natans (archive image)
Photo: Maxar Technologies / REUTERS
The US fears that Iran's nuclear program could soon acquire nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Tehran is suffering from international sanctions.
Recently there was movement in the talks between the warring states.
From Washington's point of view, the nuclear deal with Iran, which has been suspended for years, could soon be revived.
The previous rounds of talks in Vienna have been "productive," said a senior US State Department employee.
There were also "indirect talks" about the immediate release of US citizens imprisoned in Iran, the US representative said.
Negotiations on the nuclear deal will continue on Friday in the Austrian capital between the remaining signatory states.
The 2015 agreement is designed to prevent Iran from gaining the ability to build an atomic bomb.
The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under President Donald Trump.
It remained unclear whether an agreement was one of the conditions for a US return to the agreement.
Joe Biden's US government has declared its readiness to start new negotiations with Iran, but is urging that the country must first return to its obligations under the agreement.
Iran, in turn, makes the lifting of US punitive measures a precondition.
A US delegation only takes part indirectly in the negotiations in Vienna.
Presidential election in Iran puts pressure on time
Russia is urging to reach an agreement as soon as possible to prevent the upcoming election campaign for the Iranian presidential election on June 18 from overshadowing the talks.
The State Department representative did not rule this out on Thursday.
Whether it succeeds depends on whether the revival of the agreement in its original form is actually politically wanted by Tehran or whether Iran continues to make “unrealistic demands”.
Time is of the essence for another reason: Iran had recently rapidly increased its uranium reserves.
The upper limit of around 200 kilograms of low-enriched pure uranium set in the 2015 nuclear agreement was already exceeded many times over in February.
fek / AFP / Reuters