Tehran, Dec 31 (IANS): Iran's top negotiator in the Vienna talks on the restoration of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal has said that negotiations have made "good progress" in the removal of US sanctions over the past few days.

Ali Bagheri Kani, also Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for political affairs, on Thursday made the remark in an address to Iranian media ahead of a New Year break in the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the remaining parties to the deal, namely China, Russia, Britain, France plus Germany (P4+1), according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Since the beginning of the eighth round of the talks on Monday, the main focus of the negotiations was on the removal of the sanctions on Iran, Bagheri Kani said.

Iran discussed the verification issue in separate meetings with Enrique Mora, the Deputy Foreign Policy Chief of the European Union, and representatives of the E3 group of France, Britain and Germany, he added.

The Iranian Chief Negotiator expressed hope that all sides would pursue the issue of lifting sanctions with greater seriousness following the New Year break, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed between Iran and the P5+1 (including the US) in July 2015.

In May 2018, the US government under former President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA resumed talks in Vienna in April this year.

The talks are aimed at removing US sanctions against Iran and restoring the JCPOA which has been on the verge of collpase after the US unilateral exit.