Spokesperson: EU's Borrell, Iranian FM speak during ongoing Vienna talks

BRUSSELS, Dec 3 (KUNA) -- EU High Representative Josep Borrell spoke to Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian by phone, Thursday evening, and exchanged information and assessed the ongoing talks on the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna, Peter Stano, EU Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, said Friday.
He told a news conference in Brussels that negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, were ongoing in Vienna and declined to make further comments on an "ongoing process." He added that Borrell as the coordinator of the JCPOA will chair the ministerial meeting "when the conditions are right and when the current level of talks will be ready to go one level higher." "At this stage the talks are held on the level of chief negotiators and the idea is to find how to bring he JCPOA back to the full delivery and full compliance of the commitment by all the parties and to see the US joining this crucial agreement again," said Stano.
So once the technical and lower level talks conclude and prepare the ground for the ministerial meeting then the High Representative will be more than happy to call for such a meeting, he said.
But at this moment we are focusing to conclude the ongoing talks in Vienna "with success," he added.
The Iranian side at the Vienna talks is led by deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani, and the EU by Enrique Mora, deputy to Borrell.
Officials from Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany are participating in the talks, which began on Monday after a five-month hiatus.
US diplomats are also there, but Iran does not accept that they directly take part in the talks. The US under the Donald Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. (end) nk.gta