Araghchi pushes for EU guarantees before JCPOA meeting in Vienna

TEHRAN, May 26 (MNA) – Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi said before JCPOA Joint Commission meeting in Vienna today that Iran will decide soon whether to stay in the JCPOA, urging the EU to guarantee Iran’s interests. The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi who arrived in Vienna this morning to take part in the JCPOA Joint Commission meeting later today, said that Iran has not decided yet to stay in the nuclear deal with the world powers, adding the decision depends on Europe’s behavior. He said that the European signatories of the JCPOA must tell Iran how they are going to guarantee Tehran’s interests under the deal. The Iranian deputy foreign minister further said that the United States is no longer viewed as part of the JCPOA, adding that in today’s meeting they will discuss how the Europeans will act to keep the JCPOA alive in the absence of the United States and re-imposition of anti-Iran sanctions. The 9th meeting of the JCPOA commission of the JCPOA kicked off a while ago in Vienna’s Cobourg Hotel. In addition to Iran’s Araghchi and his counterparts from Europe as well as China and Russia, the IAEA Director General is also attending the meeting, chaired by Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Schmid.