Obama calls Putin to discuss Iran agreement: White House

  16 July 2015    Read: 970
Obama calls Putin to discuss Iran agreement: White House
The White House says US President Barack Obama has called Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the nuclear conclusion reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries on Tuesday in Vienna, Austria.
"The president thanked President Putin for Russia`s important role in achieving this milestone, the culmination of nearly 20 months of intense negotiations," the White House said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

"The leaders committed to remain in close coordination" it continued, "and also expressed a desire to work together on reducing regional tensions, particularly in Syria."

After 18 days of marathon talks in the Austrian capital, Iran and the P5+1 countries– the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – reached a conclusion on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War in 1991, largely due to the crisis in Ukraine, but Russia was part of the group of nations that negotiated the historic agreement with Tehran over its nuclear energy program.

On Tuesday, Obama said that Putin helped the United States to conclude the nuclear negotiations with Iran despite tensions between Washington and Moscow.

“Russia was a help on this. I’ll be honest with you. I was not sure given the strong differences we are having with Russia right now around Ukraine, whether this would sustain itself,” the US president said during an interview with the New York Times.

The 159-page JCPOA agreement has been presented to the UN Security Council, which will likely adopt a resolution next week making the JCPOA an official document.

The US Congress now has 60 days to review the text and vote to either approve or disapprove of it. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he would veto any legislation from lawmakers that "prevents the successful implementation of the deal."

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