MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The Vienna talks to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for the Iranian nuclear program are in the homestretch and chances are high that an agreement could be reached before the end of this month, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov, who leads the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks, told TASS on Friday.

"The Vienna talks are in the homestretch," he said. "There’s a real chance to arrive at a result, which has been sought during the many months of this work, and agree to restore the JCPOA."

Earlier, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri said on Twitter that the talks are closer than ever to reaching an agreement on the nuclear deal. Ulyanov responded, also on Twitter, that it was time to make final decisions.

The eighth round of talks in Vienna seeks to restore the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and bring the US back into the multilateral agreement. The talks are held within the JCPOA Joint Commission between Iran and the five world powers (Russia, the UK, Germany, China and France), and also include their separate consultations with the United States without Iran. The sides are drafting the final agreement. This round is expected to be final, as the sides intend to complete the talks in February 2022.