Khamenei says nuclear talks ‘progressing well’

TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear deal were advancing but urged officials not to place all bets on the Vienna talks.

"Work is progressing well in the negotiations," Khamenei told Iranian officials including President Ebrahim Raisi. "Do not stop your work to wait for the results of the negotiations," whatever they may be, he said in remarks published on his website.

The 2015 agreement gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something it has always denied wanting to do.

But the US’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-president Trump and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments. "Our negotiating team has until now resisted the excessive demands of the other party and will continue doing so," Khamenei said.