TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that talks in Vienna on rescuing a troubled 2015 nuclear deal had opened a “new chapter.”
An Iranian delegation met Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the agreement to discuss how to bring Washington back into it and end crippling US sanctions and Iranian countermeasures.
US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to reverse the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose unilateral sanctions.
But differences remain over the mechanics of the move as Tehran has since responded by suspending compliance with some of its own obligations under the deal.
The United States was not present at Tuesday’s discussions because Iran has refused to meet the US delegation so long as its sanctions remain in place.
Instead, the European Union acted as an intermediary, but all sides gave a positive assessment of the opening talks.
“A new chapter has just been opened yesterday,” Rouhani told a cabinet meeting Wednesday.
“If (Washington) shows it is honest and sincere, that’s all we ask... I think we’ll be able to negotiate in a short time, if necessary, with the (other parties to the deal).”
The talks are to resume in Vienna on Friday, a diplomat familiar with the discussions said.
The US delegation is to gather in a different hotel, with EU negotiators acting as go-betweens.
At the same time, two groups of experts — on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues — are working “to identify concrete measures to be taken by Washington and Tehran” to restore the deal, Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said.
Washington gave an upbeat assessment of the opening session.
“We do see this as a constructive and certainly welcome step,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Iran’s Rouhani says Vienna talks open ‘new chapter’
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Iran’s Rouhani says Vienna talks open ‘new chapter’
- US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to reverse the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose unilateral sanctions
Helicopter crashes in Libya during medical evacuation, killing 3
- The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash
TRIPOLI: A helicopter has crashed in southeastern Libya, killing a medic and two crew members carrying out a medical evacuation, state media said Tuesday.
Libyan news agency LANA said the chopper went down overnight near an air base in the Kufra region about 60 kilometers north of the border between Libya and Chad.
The aircraft was attempting to evacuate a soldier who had been involved in a road accident in the desert, LANA said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known and it was unclear what happened to the injured soldier.
Libyan media reports said two foreign nationals were among those on board who were killed, but this was not confirmed by authorities.
The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash.
Libya remains split between the eastern administration and a UN-backed government in the west led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah. The LANA news agency is under the control of western authorities.
Libya has struggled to recover from chaos that erupted following a 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi.
