Iran, world powers resume talks on US return to nuclear deal

VIENNA (AP) — World powers were set to open a fifth round of talks Tuesday with Iran aimed at bringing the United States back into the landmark 2015 nuclear deal meant to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining an atomic bomb.

The talks in Vienna come the day after the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, was able to strike a last-minute agreement with Tehran on a one-month extension to a deal on surveillance cameras at Iran's nuclear sites. The issue wasn't directly related to the ongoing talks on the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, but had Iran not agreed it could have seriously complicated the discussions.

The U.S. is not directly involved in the talks but an American delegation headed by President Joe Biden's special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, has also been in the Austrian capital. Representatives from the other powers involved — Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — have been shuttling between the U.S. and the Iranians to facilitate indirect talks.

As he headed back to Vienna for the resumption of talks, Malley tweeted that the latest round had been “constructive and saw meaningful progress.”

“But much work still needs to be done,” he wrote. “On our way to Vienna for a fifth round where we hope we can further advance toward a mutual return to compliance.”

Russia's delegate, Mikhail Ulyanov, who has consistently been the most optimistic about the possibility of an agreement, suggested a resolution was in sight.

“I think it can be final," he tweeted about the fifth round. “But in order to be on the safe side I would prefer to say: let's see.”

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of the agreement saying that it was not broad enough and needed to be...