The United States and Iran have shown a determination to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, said on Thursday.
The diplomat recalled that on Thursday, representatives of the Russian and US delegations held another working meeting in the framework of the negotiation process in Vienna on the full restoration of the JCPOA. "The conversation was very businesslike, positive. It seems to me that the Americans, on the whole, take fairly reasonable positions, although maybe we don't agree with everything. But the mood is clearly to go back to the nuclear deal, to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The Iranians and the other parties to these agreements have the same attitude, which means that there is a strategic basis for achieving a positive result. The rest is a matter of technical diplomatic efforts, which now take place in Vienna almost every day, including today," he said on Russia-24.
He noted, however, that, as of today, the Iranians refuse to communicate with the Americans. "If everything goes well, then probably personal contact will go with time, but so far the Iranians are not ready for that," Ulyanov noted.
Ways to achieve the goal
The Russian Permanent Representative called the Associated Press publication that the Americans are allegedly ready to give up sanctions against Iran for the sake of the nuclear deal untrue. "The Americans have made it clear, so far very vaguely, that they may be able to make some first step, but they are absolutely clear that this should not turn into a one-way street, and the lifting of sanctions in full is only possible on a counter course, provided that Iran begins to return to fulfilling its obligations under this deal," he explained.
According to the diplomat, for now, it is a matter of fumbling for practical ways to achieve this goal." Another group has been created. We thought for a long time about what to call it. They called it a group of practical arrangements for implementation, that is, for implementation," Ulyanov added. - "It's complicated enough. On the one hand, there is a political will, it seems. On the other hand, as the negotiations progress, a lot of pitfalls become apparent that we have to deal with."
"Just an hour ago we checked with the coordinators from the European Union after their contacts with the Iranians today, right down to the text of the nuclear section of the future agreements, many provisions are still in square brackets. There are more negotiations to come. And the picture on sanctions is not yet clear," concluded the Russian representative.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: AP / TASS
Based on materials from TASS