According to the IRNA correspondent here on Wednesday evening, the bilateral and multilateral meetings among the participating delegations, namely from France, Russia, China, Germany and the UK, have just ended with execrators saying that with the trend of talks accelerating, the differences are narrowing.

Meetings between the heads of delegations from the European Troika as well as the European Union representative in the Vienna talks Enrique Mora with Bagheri Kani have concluded at the Coburg Hotel and they are heading towards Hotel Marriott Hotel, located directly opposite the Coburg Hotel, to discuss the latest status of negotiations with the US delegation.

Meetings were also held among Iranian and Troika as well as the representative of the European Union this morning.

Disagreements among participants of the eighth round of talks have reportedly narrowed compared to the previous round, resulting in a smoother process of negotiations.

The talks mainly focus on the lifting of anti-Iran sanctions.

Bagheri Kani said on Monday that reaching an agreement on effective removal of sanctions against Iran is the key to success of the eighth round of talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Almost all representatives of the participant countries had underscored the priority of removing the illegal sanctions against Iran, Bagheri Kani told Iranian reporters, referring to the meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission on Monday evening in the Austrian capital.

It was agreed that the removal of sanctions be put on the agenda in experts meetings and the joint meetings between Iran and the P4+1, he added.

The Iranian top negotiator also said that the delegations have agreed to consider in the issue of sanctions removal the two main deliberations of Iran, i.e. verification of sanctions removal and assurances for that.

He further explained that the Islamic Republic of Iran had announced that for any deal to succeed, the violating party, i.e. the US, should remove sanctions at first and Iran would verify the removal before returning to full compliance with the JCPOA.

The verification has been accepted in essence by the other party, Bagheri Kani said, but the mechanism, frameworks, and measures would be discussed on Tuesday along with the "rightful demand" by Iran that the other parties should make assurances that the US wouldn't violate the deal again and illegally impose further sanctions.

Among other issues, financial and banking sanctions would be discussed in the next two days meetings, according to the diplomat.

Iran has underscored effective and practical removal of sanctions, as said by Bagheri Kani who added that the other parties have accepted the idea as a serious part of the talks.

Asked if the talks could lead to a deal by the end of January 2022 as claimed by the Chinese representative, Bagheri Kani responded that this depended on the other party's seriousness, as the deal could be reached sooner if the other party were more prepared to remove sanctions and accept Iran's proposed mechanisms in this regard.

Amid the ongoing eighth round of talks in Vienna, Austria, to pursue the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal and removal of anti-Iran sanctions, almost all parties involved in the negotiations emphasized speeding up the preparation of texts for a final consensus.

The eighth round of the Joint Commission meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) kicked off at Palais Coburg in Vienna in the presence of representatives from Iran, the European Union, and the P4+1 group (Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany) on December 27.

Vienna also hosted the seventh round of talks, which was halted by European delegations for more consultations in their capitals. Some media outlets proposed different speculations on the reasons behind the interruption. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh argued that the talks were halted because the Western side and the P4+1 are well aware that the hiatus was a collective decision amid the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Bagheri Kani, also said at the end of the seventh round of the Vienna talks that the delegations have reached a consensus on a document over lifting anti-Iran sanctions and nuclear issues, and that the text is different from what was agreed upon at the end of the sixth round of talks.

The Iranian negotiator told Al-Jazeera TV that Iran's draft text is a kind of proposition on lifting cruel sanctions that the other side cannot rule out.

Enrique Mora, the European Union representative in the Vienna talks, noted that a joint basis for the continuation of negotiations has been achieved in the seventh round of talks.

Expressing gratitude to Russia and China for their stances on Iranian proposals, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic Hossein Amirabdollahian urged the Western sides to lift sanctions in order to get rid of concerns about Iran's nuclear program.

Khatibzadeh said that the negotiating teams could reach two new documents on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues after the seventh round of talks. The Iranian delegation has traveled to Vienna to reach a good and rational agreement, he noted, expressing hope that other parties would take the opportunity.

During the two first days of the eighth round of Vienna talks, Iran's top negotiator underlined the need for removing sanctions and giving adequate assurances for implementation of the final agreement, which should be verified by the Islamic Republic.

Mora said that the negotiating teams will work hard to achieve a positive result, adding that the job is very hard because difficult decisions should be made.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, wrote on his Twitter account: "At the meeting of the Joint Commission today the 8th round of the #ViennaTalks was declared open. The participants held businesslike and result-oriented discussions. In particular, they agreed to intensify the drafting process in order to achieve an agreement ASAP."

The Russian envoy also tweeted: "Today in the course of #ViennaTalks on #JCPOA the working group on nuclear issues held a useful meeting. We observe indisputable progress. #Sanctions lifting is being actively discussed in informal settings."

FM Amirabdollahian mentioned if the other parties continue the Vienna talks based on good faith, reaching a good agreement for all sides is achievable.

The eighth round of talks will continue until Thursday, and representatives from Iran and the P4+1 will halt the negotiations from December 31 to January 2; then, they will resume talks on January 3.

Pointing to the reason for a three-day gap amid the New Year holidays, Mora said that the interval will take place only due to the suspension of services of the venue of the meetings.