The coordinator of negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal expressed certainty that a final agreement would be reached, as the Joint Commission wrapped up its fourth round of talks in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday.
"I am quite sure that there will be a final agreement. I think we are on the right track and we will get an agreement,” Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora told Reuters.
The Joint Commission of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, held a meeting to round up two weeks of intensive negotiations at various levels.
The meeting was chaired by Mora and attended by representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran.
The delegations are set to return to their capitals for consultation on the few remaining issues before starting the fifth round of talks.
"We have made substantial progress over the last 10 days but there are still things to be worked on and we will reconvene next week and we will continue working," Mora said.
The Russian envoy took to Twitter after the meeting, saying participants noted that “good” or “significant” progress was made and that an agreement is “within reach”.
“Hopefully the 5th round will be final,” Mikhail Ulyanov said.
Mora refused to venture such a prediction, only saying he is sure “there will be an agreement”.
General Conclusion
The Iranian representative had also said ahead of the meeting that great progress was made during the past weeks’ bilateral and multilateral discussions as they tried to address or reduce the differences.
“As a result, we are now in a position where we can reach a general conclusion,” Abbas Araqchi was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Apart from a few key issues that need further review in the capitals, there is agreement in other areas, according to the diplomat, and the drafted documents are satisfactory.
“It is now time to return to the capitals for final consultations and we will then hopefully carry on with the negotiations,” he said.
The Vienna talks aim to restore the landmark nuclear deal that has been unravelling since the United States pulled out in 2018 and Iran scaled down its commitments in response to the American reimposed sanctions.
The new US administration is now willing to rejoin the deal and Iran is also ready to resume full compliance, but arrangement is needed for the steps each side needs to take.
Deadline Expiration
The fourth round of talks ended a couple of days before the expiration of Iran’s deadline for restricting international inspection of its nuclear sites.
In line with its reciprocal measures and as per a parliamentary law, Iran halted its voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol in late February, restricting access by the International Atomic Energy Agency to its nuclear sites.
It, however, reached a technical understanding with IAEA, based on which Iran continued to keep camera footage of the facilities for up to three months, only to share it with the agency if US sanctions were lifted.
The three-month timeframe will end on May 21, but Iran has agreed to extend it depending on how negotiations in Vienna proceed.
According to Mora, Tehran is currently negotiating with the IAEA on lengthening the agreement.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh had earlier stressed that the extension would not be a violation of the parliamentary law, as the IAEA will not be given any access under the Additional Protocol anyway.
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