VIENNA – Indirect talks between Iran and the US to bring both sides back to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPO) are making “progress” and delegations will return to Vienna on Friday. This was announced by the Russian chief negotiator, the ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov, at the end of the last round of talks in the Austrian capital. Meanwhile, the deputy foreign minister of Tehran, Abbas Araghchi, announced that an “agreement” has been reached on the lifting of sectoral sanctions and on those against various individuals and entities.
Iran, US ready to lift sanctions to bring Trump’s abandoned nuclear deal back to life
by Gabriella Colarusso
“Progress has been noted, although several issues remain unresolved,” the diplomat wrote on Twitter, adding that the next appointment for the delegations, who are returning to their respective capitals today for consultations, is May 7. “In the meantime,” said Ulyanov, “the experts will continue to work on the text of the future agreement”.
Leaving the Grand Hotel in Vienna – where the meetings of the JCPOA Joint Commission are held (attended by the signatories of the agreement: Iran, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom, Germany with EU supervision) – Araghchi confirmed that ” the discussion has reached maturity and has become clearer “. The chief negotiator of Tehran, however, admitted that “the process has slowed down a bit, but it still goes on”. Araghchi, quoted by the state media, added that “there is agreement” on the lifting of sectoral and thematic sanctions such as those on energy, banking and finance, “but alongside this there is a long list of individuals and entities sanctioned. , on which in some cases an agreement has been reached for the revocation, while the remaining cases are still being discussed “.
Nuclear, Iran’s challenge: new centrifuges launched for uranium enrichment
The US delegation participates in the talks in parallel as it left the Jcpoa in 2018 and formally no longer among the signatories of the agreement. In response to Washington’s move, which with the Trump administration reintroduced economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Tehran has begun a gradual withdrawal from the agreement, taking uranium enrichment well beyond the permitted level, among other things. With the new agreement being worked on in Vienna, the aim is to lift US sanctions in exchange for Iran’s return to its commitments.
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