IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS RESUME IN VIENNA AMID NEW COMPLICATIONS

WASHINGTON/BERLIN: World powers resumed talks in Vienna on Tuesday focused on bringing the US back into the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, in their first session since comments surfaced from the Iranian foreign minister alleging that Russia once tried to scupper the pact.

The Russian foreign ministry has not responded to requests for comment on the remarks from foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, made in an interview with a think tank that was leaked over the weekend.

Delegates from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia were expected to meet in the third round of the EU-chaired negotiations in a luxury hotel in Vienna.

Earlier, in what could further complicate US-Iran relations, the US Navy said warships from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had “aggressively” approached two American vessels in the Persian Gulf’s waters earlier this month.