UN Chief Holds Phone Talks With Iranian Foreign Minister To Discuss JCPOA - Spokesman

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2023) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has held phone talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian to discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal, as well as developments in Yemen, Afghanistan and in the Gulf region, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"The Secretary-General spoke today with H.E. Mr. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister exchanged views on several issues, including Yemen, Afghanistan, developments in the Gulf region and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)," Dujarric said in a statement on Wednesday.

In 2015, Iran and China, France, Russia, the UK, the US plus Germany and the EU signed the JCPOA, which envisaged lifting sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restricting the Iranian nuclear program. Under former US President Donald Trump, the US withdrew from the deal, reimposing sanctions against Iran. The country reacted by reducing its obligations under the deal, including those concerning nuclear research, centrifuges and uranium enrichment levels.

In December 2021, talks on the resumption of the JCPOA were resumed, but a year later the progress on the deal became largely frozen.