VIENNA — The Iran nuclear negotiations appeared to gather momentum June 30 and were extended until July 7, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejoined the talks, saying he had a mandate to reach a final deal and he believed they could do it.

Zarif’s consultations in Iran were related to Iran seeking reassurance that sanctions relief in a final deal would actually materialize in exchange for the nuclear commitments that it would make, sources briefed by negotiators told Al-Monitor. In exchange for such reassurances, it was expected that Iranian negotiators would be able to offer more flexibility on nuclear-related issues to be able to conclude the deal.

“I didn’t go to Iran to get a mandate,” Zarif told pool reporters after almost two hours of one-on-one meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry upon his return from Tehran early Tuesday. “I already had a mandate to negotiate, and I am here to get a final deal and I think we can,” Zarif said.

“We had a good conversation,” Kerry said of his meeting with Zarif, who returned to Vienna from Tehran accompanied by Iran’s atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi as well as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s brother, Hossein Fereydoun.