Iranian, EU Diplomats Meet in Vienna ahead of JCPOA Session
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Ranking diplomats from Iran and the European Union (EU) held a meeting in Vienna on Tuesday morning prior to a new session of the JCPOA joint commission - a group tasked with monitoring commitments to a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers.
Iranian deputy foreign ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht Ravanchi had a meeting with EU's Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Helga Maria Schmid in Austria’s capital this morning.
The talks preceded a meeting in the Palais Coburg hotel, due to be held at the level of deputy foreign ministers from Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
The Tuesday’s session comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in mid-December 2016 sent a letter to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, who is also the coordinator of the JCPOA joint commission, calling for a session of the commission to address a US congressional bill extending Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for ten years.
Russia has announced that the joint commission will discuss various issues about implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), including the US move to extend the anti-Iran sanctions.
In December 2016, the US Senate voted 99-0 to extend the ISA for another decade. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives nearly unanimously in November. The renewal of ISA took effect on December 15 with a procedural protest from President Barack Obama, who decided to let the legislation become law without his signature.
