West News Wire: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal talks, which have been stuck for more than a year due to persistent disputes between Iran and the United States, have been discussed by the foreign minister of Iran and the head of EU foreign policy.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Josep Borrell “stressed the importance of continuation of dialogue and full implementation of commitments by all parties to JCPOA” in a meeting on Wednesday in New York, according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
According to the report, the EU official serving as the coordinator of the JCPOA revival negotiations emphasised his willingness to monitor the discussions and hold any required meetings.
In the statement, it was stated that “the parties demonstrated interest in taking concrete actions based on an agreed framework and to establish as much mutual understanding as possible.”
Since the multilateral nuclear agreement was damaged by the previous US administration, Iran has blamed the suspension of those negotiations on a lack of political determination on the part of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Donald Trump withdrew the US from the UN Security Council-approved accord in May 2018, inflicting harsh economic penalties on Tehran even as Iran was upholding its half of the bargain and was doing so a year after the US pullout.
Tehran scaled back its commitments to the JCPOA in a series of pre-announced and clear steps after witnessing the other parties’ failure to secure its interest under the agreement.
Some observers see the exchange of five prisoners between Iran and the US on Monday as a possible gate to a broader agreement between the two countries. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Borrell expressed his satisfaction with the prisoner swap in the meeting.
The parties also discussed the course of cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency while also reviewing the latest developments in bilateral relations and consulted on regional and international developments, the statement said. The European External Action Service issued a statement on the meeting and stated that Borell brought up “the most urgent issues affecting EU-Iran bilateral relations and the recent developments on the JCPOA” during the discussion.
According to the statement, “on the JCPOA, the High Representative underlined the importance of following a path of de-escalation,” which also urges Iran to enhance cooperation with the IAEA. He emphasised the “need to find a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear issue within the framework of the JCPOA,” according to the statement.
The envoy also urged Iran to end its alleged “military cooperation with Russia” in the Ukraine war and to release “all EU citizens” who had been detained there.
