TEHRAN, May 19 (MNA) – The Vienna talks are in progress, but it is not yet clear when and how it will be possible to reach a conclusion on the draft final documents, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made the remarks, adding, "We are now at important milestones that we must cross without disrupting the negotiation process."

"From our standpoint, the United States’ return to the JCPOA is the key issue that needs to be resolved. At the same time, the Vienna talks also cover all aspects related to Iran’s return to commitments under the nuclear deal. We stand for synchronizing these steps though we know that Iran believes the US should immediately lift all sanctions," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Wednesday.

The meeting of the Joint Commission of JCPOA is scheduled to be held today at 18:30 (local time) at the Grand Hotel Wien, Vienna.

The European Union (EU) has said in a statement that a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and ensuring the full and effective implementation of the Iran nuclear deal will be discussed in this meeting.
“This is a meeting that its negotiations will take more than two weeks and a conclusion will be reached and delegations will return to the capitals for consultations”, said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for the Political Affairs, referring to today’s Joint Commission of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Good and salient progress has been made in the last two weeks and a few key issues remain that need further investigation and decision-making in the capitals, he said, adding, “We hope that this will happen in the next few days, so that we can conclude on those issues when we come to the next round of talks.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Araghchi pointed to the expert-level meetings held over the past two weeks in various levels in Austrian capital Vienna and reiterated, “The situation was very tense. We held various meetings at all levels bilaterally and multilaterally between different delegations at the expert level. During these discussions, we tried to conclude, resolve, or reduce differences on issues of disagreement.”

Effective steps have been taken for writing the drafts, he said, adding, “Now is the time to continue our visit in the capitals and reach a final consultation, so that we can continue the negotiations."

RHM/FNA14000229000515