FM: Iran to Resume JCPOA Talks Soon


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the negotiations between Tehran and the P4+1 on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal will be restarted in the near future.

In a meeting with Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Khusrav Noziri, Amirabdollahian pointed to the recent talks between Iran and the European Union, held in Tehran and Brussels, noting that the nuclear negotiations with the P4+1 (Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) will resume soon.

A new round of talks to revive the JCPOA began in Vienna in April between Iran and the remaining members of the nuclear deal. There was a hiatus in the nuclear talks after the new Iranian administration took office in August.

Amirabdollahian had already announced that the Iranian administration would finalize decisions on the resumption of the Vienna talks about the JCPOA in the near future.

The US left the JCPOA in 2018 and restored the economic sanctions that the accord had lifted. Tehran retaliated with remedial nuclear measures that it is entitled to take under the JCPOA’s Paragraph 36. The current negotiations examine the potential of revitalization of the nuclear deal and the US’ likely return to it.

Elsewhere in the meeting, held in Tehran on Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister expressed satisfaction with the implementation of long-term and infrastructural projects by the ECO in various fields, such as the transportation, trade, monetary and banking projects, hoping that the outstanding plans would yield results during the tenure of Noziri, who took office in August.

Amirabdollahian also denounced the recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, which he hailed as a major member of ECO.

For his part, the Tajik secretary general of ECO praised Iran for supporting the Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization.

He also briefed the Iranian foreign minister on the arrangements made for the 15th ECO Summit, to be preceded by the 25th Meeting of the Council of Ministers (COM), scheduled for the last week of November 2021 in Ashgabat.

Noziri hoped for the highest level of participation of all member states in order to enable the ECO to achieve its intended goals and enhance the overall process of socioeconomic wellbeing in the region.