Iran, European Troika Agree to Continue Diplomatic Talks

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

Photo: Social media

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, confirmed on Friday that Iran and the European Troika (UK, France, and Germany) have agreed to continue their diplomatic discussions.

"Another round of candid discussions with PDs of Fr, Ger and UK," Gharibabadi said, The Caspian Post reports, citing Iranian media.

"We discussed and took stock of recent bilateral, regional and international developments, particularly nuclear and sanctions-lifting issues," he added.

"We are firmly committed to pursuing the interests of our people, and our preference is the path of dialogue and engagement," he noted.

"It was agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue in near future," he stated.

The meeting of the deputy foreign Ministers of Iran, France, Germany, and the UK was held on Friday to discuss bilateral, regional, and international issues.

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. Former US President Donald Trump illegally pulled out of the deal in 2018 while the current US President, Joe Biden, has signaled that he is ready to resurrect the agreement.

Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the US, and France have been in talks with Iran since April 2021 to reinstate the deal.

The talks to salvage the JCPOA kicked off in the Austrian capital of Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.

The negotiations have been at a standstill since August due to Washington’s insistence on its hard-nosed position of not removing all the sanctions that were slapped on the Islamic Republic by the previous US administration. Iran maintains it is necessary for the other side to offer some guarantees that it will remain committed to any agreement that is reached.