Western participants in the talks on restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program consider it necessary to finalize them as soon as possible, Mikhail Ulyanov, who heads the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks, said on Friday.
"The participants in the JCPOA (without Iran) and the United States met to assess the state of affairs in the Vienna talks. Western colleagues, as they do so publicly, stressed the need for a speedy conclusion to the negotiations. Russia shares an awareness of the urgency, but is against artificial deadlines," Ulyanov wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, in a conversation with TASS, Ulyanov reported that intensive informal consultations were underway in the eighth round of talks in Vienna, where progress was being made. The work continues on the lifting of US sanctions against Iran, on nuclear issues and the order of steps to restore the JCPOA, the Russian permanent representative explained.
On January 3, the eighth round of talks resumed in Vienna after a New Year's break with the goal of restoring the JCPOA to its original form and returning the US to this multilateral agreement. Following a December 27, 2021, meeting of the Joint Commission of Iran and the five international mediators (Russia, Britain, Germany, China and France), the parties agreed to accelerate the process of working on the draft agreement. As it is assumed, the eighth round could be the last, the negotiators are set to try to finish the work in February 2022.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: viennamission.mid.ru
Based on materials from TASS