Ministerial Meeting on JCPOA Held in Vienna (+Video)
VIENNA (Tasnim) – A crucial meeting among senior diplomats from Iran, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany and the EU got underway in Vienna on Friday, aimed at discussing the future of the Iran nuclear deal.
The high-profile meeting in the Austrian capital involved delegations from the remaining parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and a team from the European Union, led by EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini.
The Iranian delegation was chaired by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and involved three deputies for the legal and political affairs.
Prior to the plenary session, Iran’s foreign minister had held a number of one-on-one meetings with the other parties.
On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has underlined that any decision to keep the JCPOA running without the US should be conditional on “practical guarantees” from the Europeans.
On Thursday, president of Iran confirmed that the country has received a long-awaited European proposal for saving the Iran nuclear deal, but complained that the ‘disappointing’ package does not meet Tehran’s demands and still needs to provide a clear practical plan with definite time frame.
France’s foreign minister has also said it was unlikely that European powers would be able to put together an economic package for Iran for saving the JCPOA before November.
