US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said sanctions relief remain a sticking point in the Iran nuclear talks. Photo: Reuters
US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said sanctions relief remain a sticking point in the Iran nuclear talks. Photo: Reuters
US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said sanctions relief remain a sticking point in the Iran nuclear talks. Photo: Reuters
US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said sanctions relief remain a sticking point in the Iran nuclear talks. Photo: Reuters

US says it sees modest progress in Iran nuclear talks


Leila Gharagozlou
  • English
  • Arabic

Talks about reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are moving forward in Vienna slowly but with some growth, the US has said.

On Tuesday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said negotiations had shown "modest progress" and delegates were hoping to build on that in the coming week.

The eighth round of the talks, which started after Iran's hardline president Ebrahim Raisi took office, has been focused on lifting crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

Former president Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reinstated sanctions on Iran's economy.

A year after Mr Trump's decision, Iran abandoned the terms of the agreement, enriching uranium well above the agreed limits and increasing its installation of advanced centrifuges.

Iran has maintained that its goal at the talks is sanctions relief, while the US has been rigid in its stance against lifting them until Tehran curtails its nuclear programme.

Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri on Tuesday held a meeting with the EU's Enrique Mora and the chief negotiators from China and Russia and also the heads of the EU, Germany, UK and France delegations.

China and Russia have taken centre stage since the nuclear talks restarted, working to co-ordinate liaisons between all the original signatories. On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman struck a positive tone when discussing the talks at his press briefing, saying his country had detected a new "realism" from the West.

Sanctions relief 'at the heart' of negotiations

Meanwhile, Mr Price outlined Washington's stance at his briefing on Tuesday, saying “sanctions relief and the steps that the United States would take when it comes to sanctions – together with the nuclear steps that Iran would need to take if we were to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA – that’s really at the heart of the negotiations that are ongoing in Vienna right now."

Despite the slow progress, the arrival of South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun on Tuesday was being taken by some as a positive sign for the ongoing talks. South Korea has been holding nearly $7 billion of Iran's assets frozen due to sanctions.

Washington has yet to approve a release of the funds.

Over the course of the past few years, Iran has repeatedly demanded that its funds be released.

Before the start of talks with the Biden administration, analysts had suggested that the release of Iran's frozen assets could be a good-faith move by the US administration.

While no major breakthroughs have been announced so far negotiators have said they hope to have talks wrapped up by the end of January or early February.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

England ODI squad

Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections" 

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom" 

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
MATCH INFO

Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')

Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Structural%20weaknesses%20facing%20Israel%20economy
%3Cp%3E1.%20Labour%20productivity%20is%20lower%20than%20the%20average%20of%20the%20developed%20economies%2C%20particularly%20in%20the%20non-tradable%20industries.%3Cbr%3E2.%20The%20low%20level%20of%20basic%20skills%20among%20workers%20and%20the%20high%20level%20of%20inequality%20between%20those%20with%20various%20skills.%3Cbr%3E3.%20Low%20employment%20rates%2C%20particularly%20among%20Arab%20women%20and%20Ultra-Othodox%20Jewish%20men.%3Cbr%3E4.%20A%20lack%20of%20basic%20knowledge%20required%20for%20integration%20into%20the%20labour%20force%2C%20due%20to%20the%20lack%20of%20core%20curriculum%20studies%20in%20schools%20for%20Ultra-Othodox%20Jews.%3Cbr%3E5.%20A%20need%20to%20upgrade%20and%20expand%20physical%20infrastructure%2C%20particularly%20mass%20transit%20infrastructure.%3Cbr%3E6.%20The%20poverty%20rate%20at%20more%20than%20double%20the%20OECD%20average.%3Cbr%3E7.%20Population%20growth%20of%20about%202%20per%20cent%20per%20year%2C%20compared%20to%200.6%20per%20cent%20OECD%20average%20posing%20challenge%20for%20fiscal%20policy%20and%20underpinning%20pressure%20on%20education%2C%20health%20care%2C%20welfare%20housing%20and%20physical%20infrastructure%2C%20which%20will%20increase%20in%20the%20coming%20years.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: June 13, 2023, 12:10 PM`