Negotiations On Revival Of Iran Nuclear Deal Deadlocked - Russian Envoy

Negotiations on Revival of Iran Nuclear Deal Deadlocked - Russian Envoy

Talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are in deadlock, however, there is still a chance for progress, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov told Sputnik on Tuesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st January, 2023) Talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are in deadlock, however, there is still a chance for progress, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"The current situation around the JCPOA, unfortunately, can be characterized as a dead end. Since the beginning of September, there have been no more or less serious diplomatic negotiations. However, it would definitely be premature to say that the JCPOA is dead," Ulyanov said.

The diplomat said that the political will of all parties to the deal was needed to revive the talks and achieve progress.

"Iran has the political will to complete the process. The same can be said about us and about China. But Western participants do not have such political will at this stage," he added.

Earlier in January, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran was ready to renew talks on the revival of the JCPOA, but the negotiations must be based on realistic approach without any preliminary conditions.

The JCPOA was negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council as well as Germany and the European Union in 2015. In 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA, saying that Iran had violated the deal by developing nuclear weapons in secret. In response, Iran suspended parts of its own obligations under the deal, demanding the US lift sanctions.

In December 2021, talks on the revival of the JCPOA resumed. However, progress on the deal was frozen by September 2022 due to a series of mass protests in Iran, for which Tehran blames Israel, the US and other Western countries.