‘Time on no one’s side’: France

PARIS: France said on Wednesday that "time is on no one’s side" in talks aiming to bring the United States back into the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, two days ahead of an Iranian presidential election expected to be won by a hardliner.

The French foreign ministry said "significant disagreements persist" as representatives from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran meet in Vienna in search of a breakthrough. US President Joe Biden has indicated a willingness to rejoin the agreement, once it is certain that Iran is willing to respect its commitments, after his predecessor Donald Trump walked out of the accord.

But the expected victory of judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi in Friday’s presidential election in Iran could add a new complication, even if supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has always had the final say on the issue.