BoG meeting should not adversely affect Vienna Talks prospect

"On Monday the next session of #IAEA BoG will start. It is expected to focus on #Iran as always," the Russian Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna  Mikhail Ulyanov wrote in a tweet on Wednesday.

"The Governors need to set a prudent hierarchy of priorities. Under no circumstances the discussion should adversely affect the prospects of the #ViennaTalks on #JCPOA," he added.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Sputnik in a similar statement to Ulyanov about the upcoming meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors that he hoped the West would not complicate the situation for the revival of the JCPOA.

Next week's meeting of the Board of Governors on Iran comes as Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), claimed on Tuesday that the IAEA's activities in Iran have been severely undermined.

Earlier, Ulyanov in reaction to media reports about a US special envoy’s Robert Malley upcoming visits to Moscow and Paris to discuss the JCPOA said in a tweet, "Russia stands ready to maintain dialogue with our US counterparts on JCPOA."

The US Department of State said on Tuesday that US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley and a small delegation will be travelling to Moscow and Paris from 7-10 September for consultations with Russian and European partners "on Iran’s nuclear program and the need to quickly reach and implement an understanding on a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action."

Talks between Iran and the five involved countries (Russia, the UK, China, France, and Germany) have been going on in Vienna since April. Their aim is restoring the original nuclear deal, which implies the removal of US sanctions imposed on Iran, compliance with nuclear obligations by Iran, and the United States’ return to the accord. Representatives of the JCPOA members are also holding separate consultations with the US delegation without Iran’s participation. All the delegations involved initially hoped to complete the work in late May, after which they revised the date to early June.

ZZ/FNA14000617000319