Iran shows readiness to work on the parameters of a return to full implementation of the JCPOA, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"Over the last days and weeks, the Iranian side has shown a clear will and readiness to work on the parameters of a return to full implementation of the JCPOA, which involves both the lifting of all relevant sanctions from the US side and the return of Tehran in full to the original settings in the JCPOA," Ryabkov told reporters.
According to him, the Russian side contributed to this. "There have been a huge number of contacts in the last seven to ten days in the format of teleconferences at the level of political directors, at other levels," Ryabkov added.
"Tomorrow there will be a meeting of the joint commission under the JCPOA in Vienna. After that, we expect to start expert consultations, in fact, negotiations, which will be indirect. As a result of these efforts, hopefully, it will be possible to remove problems related to the scope of Tehran's fulfillment of its obligations, but also, of course, to ease the sanctions burden, which this country has been experiencing for a long time, but especially strongly in the period after the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA," Ryabkov said.
"We respect this decision of the Iranian side. It is no secret that Russia supported the idea of the European foreign service, put forward a few weeks ago, to hold an informal contact of all parties to the JCPOA, as well as the US. But since Tehran made a different decision, we'll work in the format of indirect talks, which, incidentally, was agreed to by everyone, including the Americans," Ryabkov said.
He noted that such a format "does not simplify the task, but it should be understood that there is no reinvention of the wheel".
"By and large, it's about going back to what has existed since 2015. Can this be done overnight? Probably, if there is political will, but consecutive steps - first the first step, then others, until the full restoration of the full scope of agreements - are not discounted as an option. So far, as I understand it, this scheme does not seem very workable for the Iranians. So we'll deal with coordinating the whole range of measures that the sides need to implement, moving towards each other. This is quite achievable and feasible," Ryabkov added.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Anton Novoderezhkin / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti