The talks to revive the Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, have restarted in Vienna. Chief Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri met separately today with the chief negotiators of Russia and China and also with the chief negotiator of France before the plenary that will take place later this afternoon. 

Ahead of the talks, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that the focus of these upcoming talks with be “guarantees and verifications.”The negotiators would be discussing a new document, he said, which appears would address “the nuclear topic and sanctions.” 

Amir-Abdollahian added that Iran’s priorities are that it be able to sell its oil without any limitations and to conduct banking transactions to receive payment for its oil. Currently, both Iranian oil and banking transactions are sanctioned as a result of the US exiting the JCPOA in 2018. While the US permits some countries to purchase Iranian oil, they are in agreements to decrease their purchases and sometimes receive special waivers. In addition to the oil restrictions, Iran has struggled to receive payments, either resorting to a barter system to collect payment or seeing the money frozen in foreign countries. 

According to Iranian media close to the negotiation team, this round of talks, officially the eighth round, will focus more on the details. The first six rounds of talks to revive the JCPOA were undertaken by Hassan Rouhani administration, who helped negotiate the original 2015 JCPOA. The administration of President Ebrahim Raisi, who has vowed to draw a harder line than his predecessor, is determined to derive the benefits of the JCPOA without any promises of better relations with Western countries.