Negotiators head home as Iran talks hit critical stage

TEHRAN: Chief negotiators from Iran and Europe returned home for consultations as talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal reached a critical stage, state media in the Islamic republic said on Saturday.

"The negotiators will return to Vienna in two days" but expert-level discussions at the eighth round of talks would continue on Saturday and Sunday, IRNA news agency said.

The talks between Tehran and world powers resumed in late November after they were suspended for around five months as Iran elected a new, ultraconservative government.

Iran agreed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

It offered the Islamic republic sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.