Iran, Group 5+1 Discuss JCPOA Implementation in Austrian Capital


Iran, Group 5+1 Discuss JCPOA Implementation in Austrian Capital

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A new round of high-level meeting of the JCPOA joint commission, a group tasked with monitoring commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, was held in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Friday amid US threats to destroy the international deal.

Representatives from Iran, the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) and the European Union held a new round of their periodic meetings in Vienna to address various issues regarding the implementation of the nuclear deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

A European diplomat said representatives from Europe were desperate to save the JCPOA from a possible collapse, which could be a case due to policies adopted by US President Donald Trump.

“We need to make sure that we don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, so we keep the nuclear agreement and we act on the rest in parallel,” the diplomat was quoted by Press TV as saying on Friday.

The meeting comes ahead of a May 12 deadline for US President Donald Trump to extended waivers of economic sanctions on Iran.

Trump told the Europeans on Jan. 12 they must agree to “fix the terrible flaws” of the JCPOA or he would re-impose the sanctions Washington lifted as part of that pact.

The JCPOA was reached in July 2015 and came into force in January 2016.

Since the historic deal was signed in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly confirmed the Islamic Republic’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.

In a recent speech at the Chatham House think tank in London, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi said even if Trump relents and issues fresh “waivers” to continue suspending anti-Iran sanctions based on the JCPOA, the existing situation is unacceptable for Iran.

“If the same policy of confusion and uncertainties about the JCPOA continues, if companies and banks are not working with Iran, we cannot remain in a deal that has no benefit for us,” Araqchi said. “That’s a fact.”

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