TEHRAN – After a short period of opposing Iranian-drafted proposals, the Europeans, together with other parties to Vienna talks, agreed to discuss the proposals.

With the start of the seventh round of talks in Vienna on Friday, the parties to the negotiations held discussions about the texts of Iran’s proposed drafts on sanctions removal and nuclear issues during their sessions at different levels and within different formats.

In addition to expert sessions, there was also a bilateral meeting between chief Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani and Mikhail Ulyanov, the head of the Russian delegation, and another meeting between Bagheri and the Austrian foreign minister. Meanwhile, there will be a one-on-one meeting between Iran’s lead negotiator and Enrique Mora, the EU’s deputy foreign policy chief.

Talks and consultations were scheduled to continue at different levels on Saturday.

After the meeting with Bagheri Kani, Ulyanov tweeted, “I don’t rule it out that a technical brake in the Vienna Talks at the end of the last week was useful to everybody including Western partners, Iran and even Russia although we had nothing in common with this decision. It was a useful reminder to everyone to take a sober approach.”

Also, Russia’s Foreign Ministry expressed hope that “after the technical break all partners are ready for intensive work without pauses.” 

“We see no other way than to expedite these consultations based on the experience of previous rounds of Vienna Talks to ensure full implementation of JCPOA,” the Russian foreign ministry added, according to the Russian Permanent Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna.

The seventh round of talks was resumed on Thursday with a plenary session of chief negotiators. The meeting in the Coburg Hotel was co-chaired by Mora and Bagheri Kani, and with the presence of delegations of Iran, the P4+1 group (China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany), and the European Union.

The meeting came amid a tense atmosphere emanating from Western opposition to two Iranian proposals regarding nuclear- and sanctions-ed measures that should be taken by Iran and the other sides if a deal is reached at the current talks.

The proposals were met with a unanimous Western rejection under the pretext that they contain maximalist demands and unrealistic views. European and American diplomats launched a concerted effort to portray last week’s talks as unsuccessful and blame the alleged failure of the talks on Iran, a move that Iran decried as a blame game.

On the other hand, Iran underlined that its proposals were in strict conformity with the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has reiterated that Iran seeks a good deal in Vienna. 

“We are all in Vienna to negotiate to reach a good agreement. The Western parties should know that in the last eight years, enough has been said and they made promises that were never fulfilled, but today is the time to act and we are working to reach a serious and good agreement,” he said in an Instagram post. 

He added, “Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful, but resolving the alleged concerns of the Western parties is directly linked to the complete removal of sanctions.

Although we are doubtful whether the West is basically ready to lift the sanctions or only seeks to resolve its concerns in a one-sided manner, if the West takes part in the negotiations ahead with good intentions, initiative and constructive ideas, we will certainly see quick progress in the negotiations.”