TEHRAN — The eighth round of the Vienna talks will continue on Monday with a return of the heads of the Iranian and P4+1 negotiating delegations to the Austrian capital.

Negotiations for the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) began on November 29 in Vienna at the level of deputy foreign ministers. The parties, despite many differences in various discussions, have been able to reach significant solutions to resolve differences. 

Tehran has repeatedly said that "nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke in a news conference on Friday after an informal meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in France that a comprehensive joint action plan with Iran was likely to be agreed.

“I think we're coming to the end of a very long process that occupied me and my colleagues,” he said.

“After the United States, we want the agreement back,” Borrell continued, noting that the deal worked well before President Trump decided to pull out of it. 

Lifting all sanctions, taking nuclear steps and ensuring that the United States will not pull out of the agreement again have been the most important points of discussions between Iran and the P4+1 countries, as well as the United States.

Although some reports indicate that the parties have made progress, there are still serious disagreements over some issues that the sides need to consult with their capitals.

It was announced on Friday that, according to the agreement reached between the heads of the delegations, the senior negotiators of Iran and the three European countries (France, the UK, and Germany) will return to the capitals for further consultations. However, the expert talks continue unceasingly in Vienna, and the return of the senior negotiators does not mean the end of the eighth round of talks.

The heads of the negotiating delegations will return to Vienna on Monday to continue the talks. The negotiations will be held in the framework of bilateral and multilateral meetings with the presence of Enrique Mora, the coordinator of the Iran-P4+1 talks.

According to AFP, Julia Masterson from the Arms Control Association think tank has said the deal can be restored if both sides "are creative and flexible."

According to Politico, Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, has also said, “While President Biden and his team should have moved earlier and faster last year to re-engage with Iran on the steps necessary to restore mutual compliance with the JCPOA, it is still possible — and necessary — for the Iranian and U.S. negotiators to reach a win-win arrangement that heads off a major nuclear crisis.”