Sunday 9 May 2021 - 10:39

Risk of Vienna Talks to Increase after May 21: Ulyanov

Story Code : 931667

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov in a tweet on Sunday warned that continuation of nuclear talks in Vienna will be intensified after May 21 and continuation of negotiations after May 21 and end of Iran’s three-month cooperation agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will face more uncertainty and risks.

"We have initiated the 4 round of the Vienna talks to bring the JCPOA back to life", Deputy of European Union Foreign Policy Chief Enrique Mora, who runs the Vienna talks. No deadlines but as coordinator, I feel a certain sense of urgency. Time is not on our side. Happy to see that all delegations, including Iran and the US, say they share that sense", Ulyanov quoted Deputy EU Foreign Policy Chief Enrique Mora’s tweet on May 08 as saying.

The cooperation agreement made between Islamic Republic of Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will end on May 21. Tehran and IAEA reached an agreement in early March last year under which Tehran would suspend implementation of the Additional Protocol (AP) and keep surveillance cameras at some nuclear facilities out of the reach of IAEA inspectors for up to three months.

Iran had warned that if sanctions were not lifted within a few months, Tehran would delete the camera footages.

Yesterday, Deputy EU Foreign Policy Chief Enrique Mora tweeted, “We have started the fourth round of nuclear talks in Vienna to revive Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).”

Emphasizing that no deadline has been set in this regard, Mora added, “But as a coordinator, I feel a sense of urgency; (because), time is not in our favor.”

The fourth round of talks between representatives from Iran and the remaining signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, which is officially known as the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), namely Russia and China and the E3 or the UK, France and Germany was held on Friday afternoon in Grand Hotel in Vienna.