The United States and the European Union's Iran nuclear envoys on Wednesday said they were travelling to Vienna for talks with Tehran's delegation as they seek to salvage the agreement on its atomic ambitions.

The US State Department's point man on negotiations with Iran, Rob Malley, announced his trip to Austria on Twitter after talks over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme have stalled for months.

"Our expectations are in check, but the United States welcomes EU efforts and is prepared for a good faith attempt to reach a deal," Malley said.

"It will shortly be clear if Iran is prepared for the same," he added.

EU nuclear coordinator Enrique Mora was also due in Vienna "to discuss (getting) JCPOA back to full implementation", he tweeted, referring to the 2015 deal intended to prevent Tehran developing a nuclear bomb.

Iran said it was "optimistic" about the talks as it also announced on Wednesday it was sending a delegation led by Ali Bagheri "as part of the policy of lifting cruel sanctions against our country".

"Heading to Vienna to advance the negotiations," Bagheri tweeted.

"The Onus is on those who breached the deal and have failed to distance from ominous legacy. The US must seize the opportunity offered by the JCPOA partners' generosity; ball is in their court to show maturity and act responsibly."

Negotiations between Iran and world powers, which began in 2021 to reintegrate Joe Biden's United States into the agreement, have been stalled since March.

In late June, Qatar hosted indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in the hope of getting the process back on track -- but those talks failed to make a breakthrough.

In a last-ditch effort, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell submitted a compromise proposal last month and called on the parties to accept it to avoid a "dangerous nuclear crisis".

Borrell said the draft text includes "hard-won compromises by all sides" and "addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore" the 2015 pact.

- 'Hope for a breakthrough' -

A Vienna-based European diplomat told AFP he welcomed "a meeting that showcases the willingness of everyone to move forward".

"It's positive, but at the same time nothing is guaranteed. We have been trying to conclude the negotiations for months," he added.

Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group said the parties' return to Vienna means there is "some hope for a breakthrough".

But Henry Rome, an Iran specialist at American consultancy Eurasia Group, told AFP expectations were "rightfully modest" because the United States and Iran "remain far apart" key issues.

These include sanctions, Iranian demands for guarantees and the end of a probe by the UN nuclear watchdog. "Resolving each of them will be hard," said Vaez.

But "both sides benefit from keeping the prospect of a deal alive even as they both seem resigned to its eventual demise," Rome told AFP.

"Given how unattractive the alternatives to the agreement are for both sides, neither is willing to pull the plug on the negotiations," added Vaez.

Signed by Iran and six powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- the JCPOA aims to guarantee the civilian nature of Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for a gradual lifting of sanctions.

But following the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 under Donald Trump and the re-imposition of US sanctions, Tehran has backtracked on its obligations.

Iran subsequently exceeded the JCPOA's uranium enrichment rate of 3.67 percent, rising to 20 percent in early 2021.

It then crossed an unprecedented 60-percent threshold, getting closer to the 90 percent needed to make a bomb.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, on Tuesday warned Iran's programme was "moving ahead very, very fast" and "growing in ambition and capacity".

Iran's nuclear saga: from 2015 accord to new talks
Paris (AFP) Aug 3, 2022 - The main developments in Iran's nuclear programme since 2015, as envoys of the United States, European Union and Iran travel to Vienna for talks on salvaging a landmark 2015 accord.

- 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 3, the US, EU and Iran nuclear envoys say they are travelling to Vienna for talks on salvaging the accord.

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