JCPOA Members Agree to Expedite Restoration Process

The agreement’s Joint Commission started its fourth round of talks over the revival of the deal in Vienna, Austria, on Friday, after a break when delegates returned home for consultations with their capitals.

They decided to immediately resume technical discussions and work on the joint draft documents, ISNA reported.

According to the Russian envoy, the participants also agreed on the need to expedite the process.

“The delegations seem to be ready to stay in Vienna as long as necessary to achieve the goal,” Mikhail Ulyanov said on Twitter.  

The meeting was as usual chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General of European External Action Service Enrique Mora and attended by representatives from France, Germany, Britain, Russia, China and Iran.

An American team of negotiators is also present in Vienna for indirect engagement in the talks through the remaining parties.

Second Priority

The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has been troubled since the United States pulled out and restored sanctions on Tehran, which responded by scaling back its commitments.

The new US administration intends to rejoin and negotiations began in Vienna between Iran and the remaining parties, who are carrying out shuttle diplomacy with Washington, to find a way to restore the agreement.

Three expert groups have been set up to work on the sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures and the sequence of the steps to be taken by each side.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who had arrived in Vienna on Thursday to head the Iranian delegation, held bilateral discussions with Mora ahead of the meeting.

He had also met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi on Thursday evening.

“Hard work is ahead of us and we hope to get a result as soon as possible, but time is a second priority,” Araqchi told reporters following his meeting with Grossi.

“The first priority is care to advance the Iranian nation’s interests and ensure the Islamic Republic’s explicit demands are met.”

He said the Iranian delegation will avoid a rush, which could negatively affect the thoroughness of their negotiations, but will not allow the talks to be dragged out for too long either.

“We are on a definite route and there is at least agreement on the path to be taken, although there are serious obstacles that need to be addressed through negotiation,” he added.

Iran wants all sanctions removed at once before it could reverse its reciprocal steps.

Washington has proposed the removal of sanctions only from key sectors such as oil, gas and banking, and had indicated openness to easing sanctions related to terrorism and human rights, according to a European diplomat.