According to Iran's foreign ministry, talks in Vienna earlier this month to reinstate its 2015 nuclear agreement had some results but fell short of Tehran's objectives.
Nasser Kanani, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, told reporters on Monday that "great progress" had been made after several days of negotiations in the Austrian capital that had been mediated by the European Union.
“But this progress didn’t fully account for the legal demands of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we had other expectations from the other sides that we believed needed to be provided,” he said.
As long as the other parties, particularly the United States, take into account Iran's "red lines" and ensure that it will receive the benefits promised under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is officially known, an agreement could be reached in "the near future," according to Kanani.
High-level internal debates are ongoing in Tehran, and communication with the European Union is kept up, the official continued.
The EU released a "final text" following the conclusion of the most recent round of negotiations on August 8 and asked all parties to make the required political decisions to seal a deal.
The wording has Washington's approval, but Tehran has hinted that it has other priorities.
The European Union will formally get Iran's "final view" on the European text by the end of the day, the Iranian foreign minister told reporters on Monday.
“We are after a good, sustainable and strong agreement, but if the other side speaks of a plan B, we also have a plan B,” Hossein Amirabdollahian said, adding that Iran is awaiting US “flexibility” on the issue of guarantees.
The main sticking point at the moment appears to be a safeguards inquiry into Iran’s nuclear programme by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which Tehran wants closed for good before the JCPOA is restored.
The nuclear watchdog has demanded more cooperation on traces of man-made nuclear particles found at several Iranian sites years ago, saying that is the only way the inquiry could be terminated.
There have been unconfirmed reports that the European text contains clauses that say the inquiry could be closed through the IAEA board of governors – populated by JCPOA signatories – provided Iran fully cooperates with the watchdog.
Russia has said the text is a product of participation by all sides, and the EU has no authority to unilaterally declare the talks successful or failed.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s assistant foreign minister for regional affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh al-Khulaifi, was in Tehran on Saturday to discuss the nuclear deal among other things.
A day later, the Qatari foreign ministry announced al-Khulaifi had held a phone call with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who has so far not been invited to Tehran to discuss the safeguards issue. Neither Tehran nor Doha confirmed potential discussions about the inquiry.
Doha has relayed messages between Tehran and Washington since last year and hosted two days of indirect talks between the two mediated by the EU in late June, which concluded without progress.
Iran started gradually ramping up its nuclear programme in 2019, one year after then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal and imposed harsh sanctions that have been enforced and expanded by his successor, Joe Biden