Vienna JCPOA Talks 'Moving Ahead'

Russian Envoy Mikhail Ulyanov at the JCPOA talks in Vienna today said: ‘Yet another very useful meeting with the US Special Envoy for Iran Mr. Robert Malley. We are definitely moving ahead at the Vienna Talks on JCPOA.’

• Ulyanov also said that he has held ‘in-depth discussions with the EU Coordinator Enrique Mora on how a final document of the Vienna Talks may look like.’
• Reports from Vienna suggest that today has been particularly productive. All three working groups on sanctions lifting, nuclear issues and implementation/sequencing have met to address the remaining outstanding issues.
• After the successful completion of working groups, it may not be long until an official Joint Commission is convened to discuss the final shape of a deal.
• The theme this week has been positive noises from Vienna but less certainty from Washington. The final deal will be dependent on approval of the US and Malley will be hoping his senate briefing this week convinced Congress of the need to strike a deal.