Tehran: Iranian delegation may discuss JCPOA revival at UNGA

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Talks on reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and lifting sanctions on Iran may occur on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly's 77th session in New York, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday. 
 
Earlier on Monday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in New York accompanied by a government delegation to attend the UN session. 
 
"Bagheri Kani, Iran's deputy foreign minister, and chief negotiator will accompany the president's delegation. There is no definite program of dialogue on the negotiations on the JCPOA during this trip, but, naturally, international meetings at this level are always a very good opportunity for political meetings between officials of different countries, as well as an opportunity to exchange views on issues of mutual interest and of a regional, multilateral or international nature," Kanaani said in a statement released earlier.

Over the past year and a half, efforts have been mobilized to revive the JCPOA deal after then-President Donald Trump, with encouragement from then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had America withdraw from it in 2018 - stating that the agreement was "a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made," claiming that "it didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will."

Read: Tensions between US, "Israel" over progress in nuclear deal: Axios

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told AFP on Wednesday that the JCPOA negotiation talks intended to lift sanctions on Iran and bring the US back into the nuclear deal are in "stalemate".

In August, Borrell laid out a "final draft" for the deal, which he described as "the best equilibrium point between the positions of everybody."

But Iran is standing by its demands toward the IAEA to stop accusing Tehran of not providing sufficient information on three "undeclared" nuclear sites. 

The 77th session of the UN General Assembly started on Tuesday. Though the UN General Assembly session starts on September 13, the attention is mostly focused on the second week, particularly on September 20, when the so-called General Debate starts. The 77th high-level week of the UN General Assembly is the first assembly in-person gathering after the coronavirus pandemic which started in 2020.