Iran nuclear talks fail to find breakthrough, although progress made

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – International diplomats said Sunday that further progress had been made at talks between Iran and the international community in the latest attempt to restore the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but have now passed any final decision to governments.

'We are closer than we were one week ago, but we are still not there," said European Union negotiator Enrique Mora. "We have made progress on a number of technical issues, we have more clarity."

Russian negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov was less optimistic, saying diplomatic efforts have been "almost fully exhausted", adding the time has come for political decisions.

It was the first official meeting since Iran's hard-line judiciary chief won a landslide victory in the country's presidential election last week.

Some analysts and diplomats have expressed concern that Iran's election of Ebrahim Raisi as president could complicate a possible return to the nuclear agreement.

Iran's deputy foreign minister for political affairs said Sunday before the meeting that "we think almost all the agreement documents are ready," according to semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr.

While Iran is already exporting well over 1 million barrels per day of crude and refined products, a lifting of sanctions is expected to quickly add an additional 1.5 million bpd of oil, including condensates.

A lifting of sanctions in the third quarter was initially priced into oil markets and into the thinking of the OPEC+ producer group, but the outcome of talks now appears more uncertain.