The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was chaired by the EEAS Political Director, Enrique Mora, who announced at the end of a JCPOA meeting in Vienna on Tuesday 20 April that the committee would meet again next week.
At the meeting, the participants - France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Iran - took stock of the progress made in the ongoing discussions in Vienna on the specific steps needed in terms of sanctions lifting and implementation of the Iran nuclear deal for the eventual return of the US to the JCPOA and its full and effective implementation.
The Joint Committee decided to set up a third group of experts to start examining the possible sequencing of the respective measures. The first two groups deal with the lifting of sanctions and issues of implementation of the agreement.
“Participants reiterated their resolve to further pursue their joint diplomatic effort including in the Joint Commission and through continued separate contacts of the Coordinator with all JCPOA participants and the United States”, Mr Mora said in his statement.
On the same day, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani estimated that the negotiations had progressed by about 60 to 70%. “If Americans act within the framework of honesty, we will achieve results in a short time”, he added during a political meeting.
The day before, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said that “some signs of progress (were) perceptible” and that there was “a real will” on the part of the United States and Iran to reach an agreement. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)