Russia wants the revival of JCPOA, calls the U.S. demand for new Iran deal ‘impossible’
Sergei Lavrov says Russia is in favor of the resumption of the original Iran deal endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.
IRNA- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated Moscow’s support for the revival of the landmark deal originally signed by Iran and six other world powers back in 2015.
"We discussed the situation in the Persian Gulf as well as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”, Lavrov said during an interview on Wednesday with American bloggers, as reported by the Tass news agency, in response to the question whether the issue of Iran is part of the ongoing negotiations between Russia and the United States.
Russia has discussed the situation around the Iran deal with the United States while at the same time maintaining some communication on the issue with the Europeans, he specified, stressing the restoration of the actual deal “from which the Americans dropped during the first Trump government.”
The top diplomat explained that Russian "would be in favor of resuming the format that developed the original deal endorsed by the Security Council and Iran."
"We’ll see how it goes," he added, referring to his consultations with American and European officials.
The Russian Foreign Minister also talked about the western media reports suggesting that U.S. President Donald Trump has called for a new nuclear deal in a letter sent to Tehran.
“The U.S. wants to link a new nuclear deal with Iran to oblige it not to support (resistance) groups in the Middle East, but this option will not work. It is worrying the Americans are willing to attach political conditions to this new deal,” he said.
Lavrov also rejected any pressure on Iran for its growing influence in West Asia and said: “I believe that a situation in which all countries except Iran have the right to influence other countries in the region is an impossible scenario.”
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany together called as P5+1 group of countries struck a deal with Iran in 2015 to address the issue over its nuclear program. But Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the accord.
Following the U.S.’s exit, the European signatories--Britain, France, and Germany— urged Tehran to stick to its obligations, promising to compensate for any economic harm incurred. Iran waited for an entire year before it began rolling back its nuclear commitments after the Europeans failed to deliver on that promise.
