Publish Date: 13 June 2021 - 12:22

Tehran, June 13, IRNA – The Joint Commission meetings of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have been held for around two months and although there has been some progress in paving the ground for returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, it is not yet clear if the sixth round of talks in Vienna, Austria, would be the last round of negotiations or not.

The signatories to the nuclear agreement resumed this round of talks on Saturday in a bid to discuss the lifting of US sanctions on Iran and Washington's potential return to the JCPOA. The sixth round of talks is chaired by Enrique Mora, the coordinator of the nuclear deal talks in Vienna.


After the fifth round of talks, Mora declared that he was sure the parties would reach a consensus, but he  could not predict the precise time.


Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's representative at the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), mentioned during the fifth round of negotiations that this round would probably be the last round talks, but he changed his view on June 12, saying that the current draft resolution needs some corrections; so, two weeks are needed to reach an agreement.


Heiko Maas, Germany's minister of foreign affairs, underlined ahead of the sixth round that both sides should show flexibility in order to find solution in this round of talks, but there is no assurance in this regard.


The Iranian authorities are of the same opinion. They think that reaching a deal is not far-fetched, but there some complexities, which may need more time to be negotiated.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, said on Saturday that he did not think that they could finalize the talks within this week and imagined that they should present the results of negotiations to their capitals.


Observers believe that technical, political, and legal issues along with verification of the United States’ actions are parts of complexities, which require more time to be resolved.

The US Treasury Department has issued a statement, lifting bans on three former Iranian officials. The Wall Street Journal described the measure as a signal from Washington to Tehran that the US is going to be committed to lifting sanctions if the Islamic Republic of Iran changes its behavior.


Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, wrote on his Twitter account that the selective removal of three sanctioned individuals was not related to the JCPOA talks and was not considered as a message of good will.


The stances taken by the parties involved in the Vienna talks show that there have been steps forward, but it is not yet clear when the steps will reach the destination. It is better to wait and see what will happen in the sixth round of talks until the presidential election in Iran on June 18.

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