G7 says JCPOA vital for solving Iran’s Nuclear crisis

Moscow, May 5 (Sputnik) – G7 Foreign and Development Ministers on Wednesday said they considered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to be crucial for the resolution of the Iranian nuclear crisis, and welcomed contacts between the signatories of the nuclear deal.
“We welcome the substantive discussions between JCPoA participants, and separately with the United States, to accomplish a mutual return to compliance with the JCPoA by the United States and Iran. The JCPoA remains the best way to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
The group stressed that Tehran should refrain from any escalation to ensure the talks on the deal go on smoothly, and noted that the latest actions of Iran were “a matter of deep concern.”
The JCPOA is a nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 countries – comprising the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom plus Germany – and the European Union. The agreement stipulates that Iran should maintain a peaceful nature of its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. While JCPOA was a priority of the Obama administration when it was concluded, the subsequent Trump administration withdrew the United States from the accord in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.