Participants of the Joint Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program expressed their determination to continue negotiations to successfully complete the process as soon as possible, said Mikhail Ulyanov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna.
The second meeting of the five political directors in a week took place on Saturday. The participants in the nuclear deal summed up the interim results of the consultations.
“The meeting of the Joint Commission on the JCPOA has ended. The participants noted with satisfaction the progress made to date and expressed their determination to continue negotiations with a view to successfully completing the process as soon as possible”, – Ulyanov wrote on Twitter.
The commission instructed the US sanctions and nuclear expert working groups to continue their activities Saturday afternoons, Sunday afternoons and next week, “so as not to waste time and make more progress in negotiations to rebuild the JCPOA”, – the diplomat added.
The Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program may meet again at the level of political directors by the end of next week, Russian Permanent Representative to international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov told RIA Novosti on Saturday.
The second face-to-face meeting of the political directors of the “five” and Iran this week took place on Saturday.
“The joint commission may meet at the level of political directors by the end of next week”, – Ulyanov said.
For two weeks, Vienna has been holding regular face-to-face meetings of the nuclear deal commission at the level of political directors, and between them – informal meetings in different formats. On Friday, for the first time, the heads of the delegations of the countries participating in the deal met with the head of the American delegation, which at that time is also in Vienna, but does not participate in the negotiations. The meeting took place without the participation of the Iranians, who are still categorically not ready to contact the Americans. According to Ulyanov, it became clearer for the JCPOA participants exactly how Washington sees the process of lifting sanctions against Tehran.
The Joint Comprehensive Action Plan, concluded in 2015 by the Six (Great Britain, Germany, China, Russia, USA, France) and Iran, envisaging the lifting of sanctions in exchange for limiting Iran’s nuclear program as a guarantor of Tehran’s non-receipt of nuclear weapons, did not last even three years. In May 2018, the United States announced a unilateral withdrawal from it and the restoration of tough sanctions against Tehran.
Iran in 2019 – exactly one year after the US withdrawn from the deal – announced a phased reduction of its obligations under the agreement, abandoning restrictions in nuclear research, centrifuges, and the level of uranium enrichment. At the end of 2020, a law entered into force in Iran obliging to start production of highly enriched uranium (from 20%), start using more powerful centrifuges that go beyond the provisions of the deal, and abandon expanded IAEA checks if Tehran is unable to freely trade oil and carry out financial operations.