Iran: JCPOA revival talks to resume in Vienna in weeks

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Tuesday that the 4+1 group of countries that remain party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action has been informed about the upcoming talks.

Khatibzadeh explained that the JCPOA and the upcoming Vienna talks will be high on the agenda of bilateral meetings between European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell and foreign ministers of the 4+1 group who have come to New York to attend the UN General Assembly.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs Senior Official Erica Barks-Ruggle said America remains committed to pursuing meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

She also said, “I know that we have said that we are ready to return, and we are hopeful to hear from the Iranians soon.”

Former U.S President Donald Trump withdrew America from the deal in May 2018 and re-imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran in a bid to force Tehran to renegotiate the nuclear deal, but the Islamic Republic refused to do so and in response rolled back some of it commitments under the JCPOA

Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal namely Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany have held six rounds of talks in Vienna in recent months on a possible return of the United States to the agreement.

The exact date of the seventh round of talks is yet to be announced.