On September 1, 2020, the meeting at the level of Director-General for Political Affairs of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear issue was held in Vienna of Austria. The meeting was chaired by Helga Maria Schmid, Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS). Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, Sergei Alexeyevich Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia attended the meeting. French, German, and British officials were also present. Fu Cong, Director-General of the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Foreign Ministry led a delegation to the conference.

Fu Cong pointed out, the United States (US) abandons its own international legal obligations, unilaterally announces its withdrawal from the JCPOA, resumes its illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran, implements a long-arm jurisdiction, and thwarts in every means other parties' implementation of the JCPOA. These are the root causes of the tension on the Iranian nuclear issue. Having quit the JCPOA, the US is no longer a participant to the JCPOA. Therefore, its logic to impose "snapback" sanctions of the UN Security Council on Iran is absolutely absurd, which has been widely opposed in the UN Security Council and it is impossible for the US to achieve its goal. The international community should continue to stand on the right side of history to firmly support multilateralism, uphold the authority of UN Security Council Resolution 2231(UNSC resolution 2231), and make unremitting efforts to promote a political and diplomatic solution of the Iranian nuclear issue.

Fu Cong emphasized, the only correct solution to the Iranian nuclear issue is to completely and effectively implement the JCPOA. The Chinese side hopes that all JCPOA participants insist to handle differences through dialogues and consultations under the framework of the Joint Commission and to restore the balance of rights and obligations under the JCPOA. The Chinese side welcomes and appreciates the consensus reached by Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on issues of safeguards implementation and calls for all participants to jointly promote relevant consensus to be effectively implemented. Meanwhile, it is impossible for the JCPOA to solve all regional security issues. The Chinese side, on the premises of upholding the effectiveness and authority of the JCPOA, advocates to establishing a new dialogue platform to form new consensuses to protect regional peace and stability.

After the conference, the European Union released a chair's statement, stating that all parties emphasized that the JCPOA endorsed by UNSC resolution 2231 shall be upheld and fully implemented; reaffirmed that the US has unilaterally withdrawn from the JCPOA and that it, therefore, could not be considered as a participant to the JCPOA. In this regard, the US cannot resume the "snapback" sanctions regulated by UNSC resolution 2231. IAEA and Iran are welcome to release and implement their joint statement on the issues of safeguards implementation. They stated that they would continue to discuss the implementation of the JCPOA under the framework of the Joint Commission; reiterated their collective responsibilities for the continuation of the modernization of the Arak heavy-water reactor against the background that the US ended sanctions waiver on the project.