MOSCOW. Sept 3 (Interfax) - Russia would welcome the soonest possible return of the Iranian delegation to Vienna to resume negotiations on reinstating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the pause in the talks has lasted for too long, which is "not helpful to the cause" and creates tension around the Iranian nuclear dossier, Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said in an interview with Interfax on Friday.
"Indeed, according to my calculations, the pause in the Vienna negotiations on reinstating the JCPOA has reached exactly 75 days today, which is certainly a very substantial period. On the one hand, the reason is understandable, as there has been an executive branch change in Iran. A new government was formed only last week, including the appointment of a new foreign minister," Ulyanov said.
"Naturally, the new team has required and apparently still requires some time to prepare for resuming the negotiating process," he said.
"The Americans took about two or two and a half months for this after [President Joe] Biden came to the White House early this year," he said.
"So, again, this delay is understandable," he said.
"On the other hand, this delay is not helpful to the cause, the negotiating process is losing momentum, and certain tension is growing around the negotiations and the Iranian nuclear dossier on the whole, considering that Iran is continuing to develop its nuclear program indeed, while the negotiations on the JCPOA's reinstatement are not being held," he said.
"In our view, all of this doesn't meet the best interests of the cause and doesn't meet the interests of Iran itself. Therefore, just as all the other parties involved in the negotiating process, we would definitely welcome the Iranian negotiating team's soonest possible return to Vienna," Ulyanov said.