TEHRAN – Iran has assessed the situation in Vienna as “forward-moving” and “positive” but it said the ball is in U.S.’s court in terms of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. 

The heads of delegations of Iran and the P4+1 group of countries as well as the U.S. are planning to return to Vienna soon. Before returning to the Austrian capital, Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani briefed the members of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on the latest developments in the Vienna talks.

After the briefing, Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, the spokesman for the Committee, said the time is ripe for reaching a good and win-win deal on the condition that the West shows seriousness and goodwill.

Speaking to the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), the spokesman gave some details about the Tuesday meeting that the Committee members held with Baqeri Kani.

During the session, the spokesman said, a report on the Vienna negotiations has been presented and the questions of the lawmakers have been answered.

According to Meshkini, Bagheri Kani assessed the negotiations process positively and said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is participating in the talks with goodwill and seriousness.

Bagheri also pointed out that Iran and the U.S. have not held any direct talks so far, the lawmaker said.

Meshkini said that the Committee concluded from the session that basically the results of direct negotiations with the U.S. are not clear.

“Although there are signs of progress in the Vienna talks, still there are outstanding issues that need to be negotiated and dealt with,” he said.

Iran is entitled to enjoy full sanctions removal but the other side has so far accepted partial removal of sanctions, the lawmaker added.

Meshkini noted there are indications that the current conditions for a good and win-win deal have been provided on the condition that the West shows seriousness and goodwill.

The remarks came days before the return of Bagheri Kani and other delegations’ heads to Vienna, meaning that Iran is making clear that making further progress in Vienna or conclusion of the talks rest on seriousness and flexibility on the part of the U.S.

Iran has already said that it is in no rush to make a deal, though it prefers to achieve a good agreement as soon as possible. Basically, the pace is not as important to Iran as substance.  Furthermore, some believe Iran is not in urgent need of a deal as much as the U.S.

Despite its obvious need for a deal, the U.S., however, has sought to put the onus of pushing the talks forward on Iran.

In a special briefing on Monday, a senior U.S. State Department official clearly pointed to that. “Now is a time for political decisions.  Now is the time to decide whether – for Iran to decide whether it’s prepared to make those decisions necessary for a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA,” the official said, referring to the Iran nuclear deal by its official acronym.

The U.S. official claimed that the Vienna talks are in “the final stretch” and that the talks “can’t go on forever because of Iran’s nuclear advances.”

The official also hinted at a deadline despite an emphasis that the U.S. is not setting a deadline. “This is not a prediction.  It’s not a threat.  It’s not an artificial deadline.  It’s just a requirement that we’ve conveyed indirectly to Iran and to all our P5+1 partners for some time, which is that given the pace of Iran’s advances, its nuclear advances, we only have a handful of weeks left to get a deal, after which point it will unfortunately be no longer possible to return to the JCPOA,” the official claimed.