Iran talks resume amid growing hopes of a resolution

VIENNA (AP) — World powers were meeting Wednesday for new round of high-level talks on bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal with Iran amid growing hopes that an agreement might soon be within reach.

Senior diplomats from Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain were sitting down with representatives from Iran to go over the latest proposals from expert groups working on how to resolve the major outstanding issues on how to return the U.S. into the landmark agreement, which then President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of unilaterally in 2018.

Before the talks, Iran's delegate, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said there had been good progress, but that several key issues needed further assessment and would be brought back by the diplomats for discussion with their governments at home.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters in Berlin that there had been “concrete results” that he wouldn't detail in public, but which gave him hope for a resolution soon.

“I cannot predict how it will end up, because ultimately the results of the negotiations will be assessed again in the respective capitals and then approved or not,” he said. “But our goal is to achieve a result in the negotiations in the next two weeks and thus create the conditions for the U.S. to return to this agreement.”

The U.S. hasn't been represented directly at the talks, which started in early April, but does have a delegation in Vienna and representatives from the other countries have been shuttling between it and the Iranian side.

The 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

The ultimate goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining an atomic bomb, which it insists it...