MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the prospects for restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) over the phone on Wednesday, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"The sides exchanged views on the prospects for restoring the full implementation of the JCPOA for the Iranian nuclear program’s settlement, and also addressed a number of relevant issues on the bilateral agenda," the statement reads.
The talks took place at the American side’s initiative.
The Russian top diplomat will also negotiate in Moscow with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on Wednesday. The foreign ministers plan to discuss the prospects to rebuild the JCPOA.
Since April, talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 countries (Russia, Great Britain, the US, Germany, China, and France) in order to restore the Iranian nuclear deal in its original form. The sides focused on lifting Washington’s sanctions against the Islamic republic, the fulfillment of its obligations in the nuclear sphere and also the return of the US to the JCPOA.
The representatives of the member states are also holding separate consultations with American envoys without Iran’s participation. Initially, the delegations expected to complete the work in late May, and then later in early June. On September 21, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the talks would begin again in Vienna within a few weeks.