Representatives of Iran and world powers will meet next Tuesday in Vienna to discuss the impasse over the 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian and European officials said after holding a virtual meeting on Friday aimed at reviving the accord. At the same time United States representatives will be holding separate discussion on the sidelines during the Vienna meeting.

Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain - all parties to the 2015 deal - discussed on Friday the possible return of the United States to the agreement and how to ensure its full and effective implementation by all sides.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a senior negotiator in the talks, told Iranian TV that the participants had agreed to meet in person in Vienna on Tuesday after "frank and serious" talks.

Two European diplomatic sources also confirmed the meeting. At the same time the European Union will hold meetings with all Iran nuclear deal participants and the United States in Vienna Tuesday, it said on Friday.

"Participants agreed to resume this session of the Joint Commission in Vienna next week, in order to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures, including through convening meetings of the relevant expert groups," the EU, which coordinates the nuclear deal talks, said in a statement.

"In this context, the coordinator will also intensify separate contacts in Vienna with all JCPOA participants and the United States."

The United States is not considered a participant in the deal any longer after President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in May 2018. Iran insists the US should first lift all its sanctions before it can return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

The Biden administration has been seeking to engage Iran in talks about both sides resuming compliance with the deal. Under that accord, U.S. and other economic sanctions on Tehran were removed in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear weapon - an ambition Tehran denies.

Iran began reducing its commitments under the deal in May 2019, one year after the US abandoned the agreement. It has now boosted uranium enrichment in both quality and quantity in violation of the accord.

The United States and Iran have yet to agree even to meet about reviving the deal and are communicating indirectly via European nations, Western officials say.

Russia's ambassador to the U.N. atomic watchdog said that Friday's talks had been businesslike and would continue.

"The impression is that we are on the right track but the way ahead will not be easy and will require intensive efforts. The stakeholders seem to be ready for that," Mikhail Ulyanov said on Twitter.

Iran’s economy is in dire conditions and the Islamic Republic is seeking relief, while the United States says it wants a longer-term and a more comprehensive agreement covering Tehran’s ballistic missiles and its destabilizing role in the Middle East.