VIENNA, June 28. /TASS/. The issue of calling a ministerial summit of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s (JCPOA) member states on the Iran nuclear deal is currently on the agenda, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said on Thursday.
"During the latest extraordinary meeting of the JCPOA member states, which took place in Vienna on May 25, the first one without the US, the Iranian side asked for a ministerial meeting," he noted. "According to JCPOA, if such a request is made, the coordinators - in this case, the EU takes on the role of coordinators - must ensure that the meeting is held. However, it is not that easy to find a date that would suit all five ministers (from Russia, China, the UK, Germany and France - TASS), which is why this issue is still under consideration. It is unclear when it will take place, but it must happen."
"First and foremost, the Iranians are interested in the measures that the remaining JCPOA members can actually implement in order to compensate for the US backing out of the deal," Ulyanov continued. "This situation is of a specific nature, because the JCPOA could easily be realized without the US’ participation, if not for the extraterritorial sanctions threatened by the Americans. It is a serious issue, which undermines the efforts of other countries aimed at saving the so-called nuclear deal. The future will show the extent of their success."
The Russian envoy noted that maintaining this deal is highly important. "The JCPOA is a very fragile and, in its own way, brilliant compromise," he stressed. "If the JCPOA is followed, all our concerns over the Iran’s nuclear program will go away, because if we implement the additional protocol to the safeguards agreement with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), we will be able to effectively control Iran’s nuclear activity, with no need for any additional deals.".