In a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian later on Tuesday in New York, Maas said he wanted to make it clear “that we are running out of time.”

“We still believe that it is possible to get the negotiations to a positive outcome – but not in months, but in the coming weeks,” Maas said on the sidelines of the kick-off of the UN General Assembly.

Negotiations in the Austrian capital to revive the Iran nuclear deal started in April and were then suspended after the change of government in Iran.

China, Germany, France, Britain and Russia are seeking Washington’s return to the 2015 agreement, while also bringing Iran back into compliance with conditions it has violated since the US pulled out.

Then-US president Donald Trump terminated the agreement in 2018 but successor Joe Biden is considering a return.

New Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has stressed several times that Iran wants to continue negotiations. However, the post-election Iranian delegation to the talks has still not been determined.

The delegation had been led by deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi until last week, when he was replaced by Ali Bagheri, a hardliner critical of the deal.