Iran+5 to start preparing ministerial meeting on nuclear deal

Representatives of Iran and Russia, China, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will discuss preparations for a ministerial meeting on December 16 during a virtual meeting of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program.

The ministerial event can also be held online before the end of 2020, a diplomatic source told TASS Tuesday.

"The commission will start online preparations for a ministerial meeting which is currently planned to be held before the end of the year," the source noted.

It is expected that the ministerial meeting will also be held online due to coronavirus restrictions, the source added.

The meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission at the level of political directors of Iran and the five mediators was initially planned to be held in Vienna on December 16, however, it was later moved online. The delegations will speak remotely from the capitals of the parties to the deal. The meeting will focus on further steps to implement the JCPOA. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to represent the Russian delegation at the event.

Earlier, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell informed that the European Union intends to hold a ministerial meeting on the JCPOA in December.

The JCPOA was signed between Iran, five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, and France), and Germany in 2015. The deal limited Iran’s nuclear development in exchange for lifting the UN sanctions, as well as the US and EU unilateral restrictions.

On May 8, 2018, the issue of the nuclear deal exacerbated dramatically after US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and the introduction of sanctions against Iran’s oil sector.

On May 8, 2019, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran was suspending the fulfilment of its part of the nuclear deal obligations.

FA/TASS