US and Iran ‘will begin talks on deal’

THE US and Iran have said they would begin negotiations through intermediaries next week to try to get both countries back into an accord limiting Iran’s nuclear programme, nearly three years after Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal.

The announcement marked the first major progress in efforts to return both countries to the 2015 accord, which bound Iran to restrictions on its nuclear programmes in return for relief from international sanctions.

US president Joe Biden, above, came into office saying that getting back into the accord was a priority. But Iran and the US have disagreed over Iran’s demands that sanctions be lifted first, and the stalemate threatened to become an early setback.