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Remaining participants committed to Iran deal despite US sanctions - Russian diplomat

The meeting on Iran nuclear deal at the level of political directors has continued two hours

VIENNA, July 28./TASS/. The remaining participants remain committed to the Iran nuclear deal, although the US sanctions are undermining it, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said on Sunday after a session of the JCPOA Joint Commission on Iran’s nuclear program.

The Sunday’s session in Vienna "made it possible to discuss at length the situation around the implementation of this agreement with a focus on its nuclear and economic components. It is obvious that the US sanctions are undermining ‘the nuclear deal’. However, all participants are firmly committed to it," Ulyanov said in a tweet.

The meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission at the level of political directors has ended in Vienna after two hours of discussion.

The previous meeting of the political directors on Iran’s nuclear program was held in Vienna on June 28. Back then, the sides agreed on a ministerial session. However, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed, such a meeting should be duly prepared.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed by Iran with the UN Security Council permanent members (Russia, the UK, China, the US, France) and Germany in 2015. The deal restricted Tehran’s nuclear development in exchange for lifting the UN sanctions and the unilateral restrictions imposed by the US and the EU. On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA. Exactly a year after, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani announced that Iran was suspending a part of its nuclear deal obligations and gave other parties to the deal two months to fulfil their obligations.

On July 8, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran had surpassed the 3.67% uranium enrichment limit envisioned by the nuclear deal.