TALKS which could see the lifting of US sanctions on Iran are set to resume in the next few weeks, Tehran said on Wednesday. 

“We agreed to start the negotiations aiming at the removal of unlawful and inhumane sanctions on November 29 in Vienna,” Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bukhari Carney said. 

Negotiations over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — known as the Iran nuclear deal — have been mediated by the European Union with face to face talks between the two nations ruled out. 

Former US president Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and imposed a raft of punitive sanctions as part of a “maximum pressure” regime change strategy. 

But six rounds of talks have taken place since Joe Biden took office in January as he hinted his administration wanted to restore the deal. 

The discussions were paused earlier this year to give Iran time to carry out a government transition. 

Relations between the two nations remain tense, however, with Iran accusing the US of an “act of piracy” in the Sea of Oman on Wednesday. 

Tehran claimed to have thwarted an attempt by the US military to steal Iranian oil from one of its tankers. 

Washington denies the charges.