The European Union submitted a "final text" at talks to salvage a 2015 deal aimed at reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions and Tehran said Monday it was reviewing the proposals.

Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia, as well as the United States indirectly, resumed talks Thursday in Vienna, months after they had stalled.

The European Union has submitted a "final text", a European official said Monday. "We worked for four days and today the text is on the table," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"The negotiation is finished, it's the final text... and it will not be renegotiated."

"What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it's now in a final text," the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter.

"However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals. If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal."

The European official said he hoped to see the "quality" text accepted "within weeks".

Iran said it was examining the 25-page document.

"As soon as we received these ideas, we conveyed our initial response and considerations," state news agency IRNA quoted an unnamed foreign ministry official as saying.

"But naturally, these items require a comprehensive review, and we will convey our additional views and considerations."

On Sunday, Iran demanded the UN nuclear watchdog "completely" resolve questions over nuclear material at undeclared sites.

Iranian sources have suggested a key sticking point has been a probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on traces of nuclear material found at undeclared Iranian sites.

"That has nothing to do with" the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement of 2015, the European official said.

"I hope Iran and the IAEA will reach an agreement because that will facilitate a lot of things."

- 'Irrelevant and unconstructive' -

The UN agency's board of governors adopted a resolution in June, censuring Iran for failing to adequately explain the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three previously undeclared sites.

"We believe that the agency should completely resolve the remaining safeguard issues from a technical route by distancing itself from irrelevant and unconstructive political issues, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Sunday.

Kelsey Davenport, an expert at the Arms Control Association, warned against abandoning the IAEA probe in a bid to revive the JCPOA, which she called "the most effective way to verifiably block Iran's pathways to nuclear weapons".

If the United States and the other signatories to the 2015 deal do not support the UN body, it will "undermine the agency's mandate" and broader non-proliferation goals, she wrote on Twitter.

The EU-coordinated negotiations to revive the JCPOA began in April 2021 before coming to a standstill in March.

The 2015 accord gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme to guarantee Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something it has always denied wanting to do.

But the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the deal under president Donald Trump in 2018 and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.

Iran's nuclear saga: from 2015 accord to new talks
Paris (AFP) Aug 8, 2022 - The main developments in Iran's nuclear programme since 2015, as Tehran examines a "final text" in Vienna aimed at restoring a landmark deal with world powers.

- Historic accord -

In 2013, newly elected Iranian president Hassan Rouhani says he is ready for "serious" negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, following an eight-year stalemate under ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rouhani secures support from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for efforts to break the deadlock.

On July 14, 2015, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany reach a historic accord in Vienna.

The deal places significant restrictions on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief after 12 years of crisis and 21 months of protracted negotiations. It comes into force on January 16, 2016.

Under the accord, Tehran's nuclear programme is placed under strict UN control subject to guarantees it is not trying to make an atom bomb, something Iran has always denied.

- Trump pulls out -

US president Donald Trump walks away from the deal on May 8, 2018.

"We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement," he says.

Deal critics had complained from the start about the time limits applied to the deal.

Later in 2018, Washington begins reimposing sanctions on Iran and companies with ties to it, hitting the central bank and the country's vital oil sector.

Major international firms halt activities in the country.

- Iran walks back -

In May 2019, Iran starts rolling back on its deal commitments in retaliation.

Trump hits back by sanctioning Iran's steel and mining sectors.

Tehran increases its stockpile of enriched uranium in excess of the limits laid down in the deal.

It announces in early 2020 it is foregoing a limit on its number of uranium-enriching centrifuges.

In 2021, Iran says it has started enriching uranium to up to 60 percent -- many times the limit of 3.67 percent imposed by the deal -- which the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says could be sufficient to create a compact nuclear explosive.

- Vienna talks -

In April 2021, with President Joe Biden now in the White House, talks on rescuing the accord start in Vienna.

Iran's new ultraconservative president, Ebrahim Raisi, says in August he is open to negotiations but will not be pressured by sanctions.

Talks resume in November.

- Compromise 'close' -

Just as a deal looks imminent, Russia invades Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and Moscow becomes the target of international sanctions. The negotiations are delayed.

In mid-March, Washington says a compromise is "close", but Tehran raises some "red line" issues, including its bid to have all sanctions lifted.

- New US sanctions -

On March 30, Washington sanctions suppliers to Tehran's ballistic missiles programme, which Iran dubs "another sign of the US government's malice" towards the Islamic republic.

- Nuclear watchdog raps Iran -

On June 8, the IAEA adopts a resolution submitted by Britain, France, Germany and the United States that condemns Iran for the first time in two years.

Iran responds by removing surveillance cameras at nuclear facilities.

On June 16, Washington sanctions a network of Iranian petrochemical firms.

- 'No progress' at Qatar talks -

In late June, two days of EU-brokered indirect talks in Doha between Iran and the United States conclude with no progress.

- Return to Vienna -

On July 26, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says he has submitted a draft text of a deal, urging parties to accept it or "risk a dangerous nuclear crisis".

On August 4, negotiators gather for a fresh round of talks.

On August 7, Iran demands that the UN nuclear watchdog "completely" resolve outstanding issues related to questions over nuclear material at undeclared sites.

On August 8, Iran says it is examining a "final text" presented by the European Union.

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Iran says UN nuclear watchdog should resolve outstanding issues
Tehran (AFP) Aug 7, 2022
Iran on Sunday demanded that the UN nuclear watchdog "completely" resolve outstanding issues related to questions over nuclear material at undeclared sites, amid resumed talks to revive its 2015 nuclear deal. Talks aimed at reviving the agreement over Iran's nuclear programme resumed this week in Vienna, months after they had stalled. Iranian sources have suggested that one of the key sticking points is a probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency on traces of nuclear material found at und ... read more