WASHINGTON: The US Department of State believes that another round of talks in Vienna on the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of ...
WASHINGTON: The US Department of State believes that another round of talks in Vienna on the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program may be organized by the end of the year, a high-ranking official in the US Department of State said.
Speaking during a special telephone news briefing, the official said it was certainly possible that the talks could be resumed by the end of this year and the United States were ready for them adding that participants of the of the Joint Commission of Iran and the International Quintet (Russia, the UK, Germany, China and France) shared this stance.
The official also said that the break in talks was requested by the Iranian side and it was not a decision on behalf of the United States to leave Vienna.
He continued by saying that a mutual understanding has not been reached at the talks in regard to which of the US sanctions, imposed against Iran over its controversial nuclear program, could be lifted today.
US President Joe Biden made it clear, the official continued, that Iran must not get a hold of nuclear weapons and the diplomacy is a priority under the current circumstances, but he would ponder other options if the diplomacy failed.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov told TASS on Friday that the eighth round of the Vienna talks on the restoration of the Iran nuclear deal may begin in late December or early January 2022 adding that "The Russian delegation is ready to work without breaks."
The seventh round of the negotiations on rejoining the Iran nuclear deal and canceling the US sanctions on the Islamic Republic commenced on November 29. It restarted on December 9 after its participants consulted in their countries. The negotiators have confirmed that further work will be based on the documents formulated in June 2021 over the course of six rounds. It was noted that all the parties sought to restart the JCPOA in its original form.
Two working groups continued their work in Vienna this week: one for lifting sanctions and the other on nuclear issues. They are tasked with harmonizing the negotiators’ positions. There are plans to involve a third group with the aim of implementing the future agreement.
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