EU 'studying' Iran's response to proposed text on JCPOA revival: Spokesperson

The European Union confirms that it has received Iran's response to a modified text proposed by the EU aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying the bloc is "studying" the reply with parties to the deal and the United States.

Nabila Massrali, a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell -- who coordinated talks between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries in the Austrian capital of Vienna -- made the remarks while speaking to IRNA on Tuesday.

"We are studying it and are consulting with the other JCPOA participants and the US on the way ahead," she said.

Late on Monday, Iran said it had provided the EU with its final conclusion on the talks aimed at reviving the JCPOA, emphasizing that it is now the US’s turn to show realism and flexibility if it really wants a final agreement to be reached.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also said on the same day that if the US shows a realistic and flexible reaction to Iran’s offer, “we would be at the point of agreement,” adding, “The American side has orally agreed to two proposals offered by Iran.”

We are closer to deal than before: Iranian adviser

An adviser to the Iranian negotiating team said the parties to the JCPOA are closer to a final agreement on the deal’s revival than they have ever been.

“I can’t say that there will be a deal, but we’re closer than we’ve been before,” Mohammad Marandi, who is also vice-president for international affairs at the University of Tehran, said in a post on his Twitter account, citing remarks he made in an interview with Aljazeera Arabic.

In its response, he added, Iran “has expressed its concerns, but that the remaining issues are not very difficult to resolve.”

“Those concerns are founded upon past US/EU violations,” Marandi tweeted.

Ball in US court after Iran’s response: Top Russian negotiator

Russia’s chief negotiator in the Vienna talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Tuesday that the American side must respond to Iran’s response to the EU proposal on the parties’ return to the JCPOA, emphasizing that the ball is now in the US court.

Ulyanov, who also serves as Russia’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, told Sputnik that the sides may reach an agreement at the beginning of this week.

Yesterday’s developments showed that it can happen, if not this week, then the next week, he added.

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