Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are close to reaching an agreement, the chief British envoy said on Friday as she and her French and German colleagues flew home to brief ministers. “We are close. E3 negotiators leaving Vienna briefly to update Ministers on state of play. Ready to return soon,” Stephanie Al-Qaq said on Twitter, referring to the chief British, French and German diplomats involved in the talks. (https://news.yahoo.com/close-uk-envoy-iran-nuclear-161633009.html) The Europeans’ departure raised the possibility that the United States and Iran, which have talking indirectly because Tehran refuses to meet face to face, might be preparing to sit down together though diplomats said there were no such plans. “As far as I know, the Iranians are not ready for direct talks,” Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov told reporters. “We will have a deal maybe in the middle of next week. We are talking about the last efforts before crossing the finish line.” Negotiators have worked for 11 months to try to revive the 2015 deal under which Iran limited its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain fissile material for a bomb – an ambition Tehran denies – in return for relief from economic sanctions. Western powers and Russia have for almost a year worked closely to revive the accord but the war in Ukraine is creating a sense of urgency to conclude talks before cooperation becomes more difficult.