Chinese envoy underscores sequence of US, Iran returning to nuke deal

"China believes that the issue of the sequence in which the United States and Iran resume the implementation of the JCPOA is first and foremost a matter of sense of justice," said the Chinese envoy. "The cart shouldn't be put before the horse."

VIENNA - The sequence in which the United States and Iran return to compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is first and foremost a matter of "sense of justice," said Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, on Tuesday.

Wang made the remarks after attending the latest meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission. The meeting was chaired by Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary general and political director of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and attended by representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and Iran.

The Joint Commission's negotiations on getting the United States and Iran to resume compliance with the JCPOA have entered the fourth week, said Wang, stressing that "it will be a very important week."

The negotiations have made some important progress, whereas some significant differences are yet to be ironed out, Wang noted.

"China believes that the issue of the sequence in which the United States and Iran resume the implementation of the JCPOA is first and foremost a matter of sense of justice," Wang said. "The cart shouldn't be put before the horse."