JCPOA at dead end, US' delay and withdrawal to blame: Ulyanov
Ulyanov assures that space for progress is still a possibility if participants show political will to go on.
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Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations Mikhail Ulyanov at a JCPOA meeting in Vienna, Austria (Reuters)
Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that negotiations to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have reached a dead end, but a chance for progress is still available.
"The current situation around the JCPOA, unfortunately, can be characterized as a dead end. Since the beginning of September, there have been no more or less serious diplomatic negotiations. However, it would definitely be premature to say that the JCPOA is dead," Ulyanov told Sputnik, adding that political will is an inexcludable condition.
"Iran has the political will to complete the process. The same can be said about us and about China. But Western participants do not have such political will at this stage," he said.
Under IAEA control
Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian displayed Iran's will to renew talks for the JCPOA, but added that the talks have to be based on a realistic approach, and with no preliminary conditions.
Ulyanov also stated that the reason behind the rapid development of Iran's nuclear program was the US' withdrawal from the JCPOA.
"The US has done its best to push the significant development of the Iranian nuclear program in both quantitative and qualitative terms. In this, it must be said, Washington succeeded — the Iranians went beyond the limits set by the JCPOA in almost every respect and moved far ahead even compared to what they had before the deal in 2015," according to the diplomat.
However, Ulyanov said that with the IAEA's control of the situation, "the steps taken by Iran ... are reversible, and this requires very little — to return to the Vienna negotiating table and restore the nuclear deal."
US' provocative messages
The JCPOA talks stalled last year, not only because of Iran's crackdown on Western-sponsored rioters but also because of allegations that Iran supplied Russia with drones to be used in combat against Ukraine. More recently, external members such as Qatar, have shown interest in assisting with the process of reviving the talks.
Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani stated recently that Qatar urges all parties to resume talks, noting that he did convey to Iran the messages of concerned parties, including messages from the US.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed on Sunday that Iran rejected the chance last year to revive the JCPOA. He said: “Unfortunately, they rejected what was on the table and had been agreed to by everybody. Their either wouldn’t move forward with it.”
In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, stated, “The US administration must be aware of the legal and international responsibilities resulting from threatening remarks against the Islamic Republic of Iran and think twice about the political consequences of such provocative statements."
On Tuesday, Rafael Grossi, the director of the IAEA, said that he plans to head to Iran next month for "much-needed" talks with Tehran. "I might be back in Tehran... in February, perhaps, for a much-needed political dialogue, or reestablishment thereof, with Iran," Grossi told lawmakers in the European Parliament.
