Iran, Qatar FMs discuss JCPOA, bilateral talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held a telephone conversation on Thursday night.

In this telephone conversation, top Iranian and Qatari diplomats discussed the latest developments about the ongoing JCPOA talks in Vienna aimed at removing anti-Iran sanctions.

The two sides also discussed and exchanged views about some bilateral and regional issues of interest between Tehran and Doha.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA -- Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany -- had held several rounds of negotiations in the Austrian capital of Vienna since April last year to restore the agreement, which was abandoned by the former US President Donald Trump in May 2018.

In quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are being enforced to this day by the Joe Biden administration, even though it has repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.

Numerous rounds of indirect negotiations in Vienna and Doha between Tehran and Washington over the past 16 months have failed to secure a path back to the deal.