Iranian, Russian Negotiators Meet Again in Vienna
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Delegations representing Iran and Russia in the latest round of talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) held a meeting for the second time in Vienna on Friday.
The Iranian team of negotiators, led by Ali Baqeri, arrived in Vienna on Wednesday to proceed with the talks on the revival of the JCPOA and removal of anti-Iran sanctions.
After the first meeting on Thursday, Baqeri and Mikhail Ulyanov -Russia’s lead negotiator- had another get-together on Friday.
The Russian diplomat said the situation was not totally clear to him, but noted that all parties are apparently reaching a consensus about the final text of an agreement.
Ulyanov said that time will tell whether success is achievable in the talks, adding that the atmosphere of the negotiations is serious in general.
After a meeting with Baqeri on Thursday, Ulyanov said in a tweet, “Met today with the Head of the delegation of #Iran at the #ViennaTalks on #JCPOA Dr. Bagheri Kani (Baqeri). As always we had a frank, pragmatic and constructive exchange of views on ways and means of overcoming the last outstanding issues.”
According to Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani, the new round of talks, coordinated by the European Union like before, will focus on the ideas proposed by the involved parties, including the ideas that the Islamic Republic has put forward this week.
Reaffirming Iran’s determination to strike a durable agreement that would guarantee the Iranian nation’s rights and safeguard its interests, the spokesman expressed hope that the other parties would pave the way for effective progress in the negotiations by making the necessary decisions and concentrating on the outstanding issues.
In July 2015, Iran signed the nuclear deal with world powers, agreeing to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. However, former US president Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the agreement in May 2018 and re-imposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to abandon some of the pact's commitments.
The talks on reviving the JCPOA began in Vienna in April 2021 but were suspended in March of this year due to political differences between Tehran and Washington.
The talks resumed in late June in Qatar's capital, Doha, after a three-month hiatus, but failed to resolve the differences.
