‘Explicit and constructive’: Iran on nuke talks with Europe

Borrell said the ongoing cooperation and negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency will be “fruitful and positive”….reports Asian Lite News

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that the recent talks with the European parties on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal were “explicit and constructive”.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks on Tuesday in a phone call with the European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell, when commenting on the talks to salvage the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

He highlighted the importance of continuing dialogue between Iran and Europe with the aim of achieving a common understanding, saying Borrell and the EU deputy foreign policy chief Enrique Mora have played “constructive” roles in the nuclear talks while the new EU special representative for the Gulf region Luigi Di Maio has “constructive” relations with Iran.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, speaks at a press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky (not in the picture) after a two-day informal meeting of European Union (EU) foreign ministers in Prague, the Czech Republic, on Aug. 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Deng Yaomin/IANS)

Speaking of the possible solutions to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran has always supported global peace and stability and maintains that stopping the conflict is only possible through political initiatives.

Borrell, for his part, said the ongoing cooperation and negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency will be “fruitful and positive”.

Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The US, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

The negotiations for the revival of the JCPOA commenced in April 2021 in Austria’s capital Vienna. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved since the end of the last round in August 2022.

In June, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani held separate meetings with Mora, as well as French, German, and British representatives on the JCPOA’s revival.