TEHRAN (AA): Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the Iran nuclear deal alongside bilateral relations and regional and international developments, according to the country’s foreign ministry on Saturday.
The two top diplomats discussed over the phone “the latest status of the Jo-int Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” the ministry said in a statement. JCPOA is the formal name of the nuclear agreement.
Amirabdollahian emphasized on the “need to implement the comprehensive 25-year cooperation program” between the two countries, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Yi stressed the need for the revival of the nuclear deal and “welcomed the beginning of ta-lks between the Islamic Re-public of Iran and the Euro-pean side.” He also noted that he already “instructed his colleagues to continue close consultations in this regard with their counterparts in the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Amirabdollahian indicated that the talks between Iran and EU “have started in a positive and constructive direction” and would continue in Brussels.
He also called on the US to lift “unilateral and illegal” sanctions on Iran.
On Thursday, Enrique Mora, the EU’s deputy foreign policy chief, met in Tehran with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kani.
In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said both sides discussed “bilateral, regional and international issues,” including “Iran-EU ties, Afghanistan, and negotiations on lifting sanctions against Iran.”
The visit of the EU envoy, who is tasked with coordinating talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, came amid mounting pressure from the US and European countries to resume the talks in Vienna.
The former US administration in May 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the n-uclear deal signed between Iran and world powers in July 2015, followed by a reinstatement of sanctions.
