Commission on Iranian nuclear deal may convene by year-end - Russian diplomat

BRASILIA, November 14. /TASS/. A new session of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program at the level of political directors may be held by the end of the year, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with TASS. "Dates are being studied," he said, answering to a question on when the meeting was expected to take place. "I do not rule out that it may take place by the end of the year." The previous meeting of the agreement’s participants at the level of political directors was held in July. In September, a ministerial meeting was held in September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week. On November 5, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that Tehran would take the next step to reduce its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by activating centrifuges at the Fordow uranium enrichment plant. In accordance with the 2015 JCPOA, Iran had to modernize the Fordow plant under international observers’ supervision. The envisioned modernization was supposed to make this facility impossible to be used for military purposes. On the following day, the ISNA agency informed that Iran began to pump gas to the centrifuges at Fordow, which signified the fourth stage of Tehran’s reduction of obligations under the JCPOA. According to Iran’s declared intentions, the next phase of reductions is expected in early January. Read more