Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday issued a defence of its negotiating team at talks in Vienna aimed at reviving a nuclear deal, following days of growing criticism by state media.

The remaining partners to the 2015 nuclear deal have been engaged in talks aimed to return the United States to the accord it withdrew from and to lift the sanctions it reimposed on Iran, and Tehran's return to nuclear commitments it cut in retaliation.

Iran's team is led by deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who earlier this week publicly slammed the state-run English-language Press TV network for quoting unnamed sources on the talks.

State TV on Wednesday also aired a programme that implied Iran's diplomats were duped by the US regarding the 2015 deal, and are set to give concessions again, a view shared by the country's ultraconservatives.

"A small but loud minority have brought forth everything in their power to target Iran's representatives" at the talks, the ministry said in a lengthy statement.

It accused the broadcaster and its English channel of "airing serial pseudo-documentaries" and "insults and slander", while showing Iran's enemies as "all-powerful and smart beings that have fooled" the republic.

This "damages the negotiators and hurts diplomatic efforts", it said, noting that sanctions have not "targeted a certain movement or party", but all of Iran.

The public row began after Press TV quoted an unnamed "informed source" saying that Iran rejects the sequential lifting of sanctions.

It added that verifying the lifting of sanctions needs "between three and six months", undercutting the government's stance of a rapid verification that paves the way for Iran's return to its commitments.

Araghchi responded by tweeting "I don't know who the "informed source" of Press TV in Vienna is, but s/he is certainly not "informed".

The channel quoted the official's tweet, commenting that he should have "explicitly stated which of the information provided by Press TV news sources was distorted".

Showing no sign of retreat, Press TV official Ahmad Norouzi told state TV on Thursday that "many things are still unsaid".

In its statement, the ministry said it would release "non-confidential negotiation documents" related to the 2015 deal.

A senior US official on Wednesday said Washington had shared details of the sanctions it was prepared to lift with Tehran.

Iran has repeatedly demanded that all US sanctions reimposed since 2018 be lifted and stressed its readiness to return to nuclear commitments once it has been verified.

An American delegation is present at Vienna but holding no direct talks with Iranians, while the European Union acts as a intermediary and coordinates between the two.

According to a European diplomat, the talks "have made some progress, but there is still a way to go".

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US gives Iran 'examples' of sanctions it's ready to lift
Paris (AFP) April 21, 2021
The United States has shared with Iran details of the sanctions it is prepared to lift under a return to a nuclear accord, a senior official said Wednesday. The United States and Iran are taking their second break from indirect talks in Vienna on how to restore a 2015 nuclear accord backed by President Joe Biden, after his predecessor Donald Trump walked away. "This time, we have gone into more detail," a senior US official said of the latest EU-led talks. "We have provided Iran with a numbe ... read more