Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has not ruled out that some kind of agreement on the renewal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program may be reached between Washington and Tehran as a result of secret negotiations. He expressed this view to reporters on Thursday, answering a question from TASS.
"No secret remains forever. This is obvious. There have been situations in the past when the US and Iran were in indirect contacts behind closed doors. It cannot be ruled out that such contacts are still taking place," said the deputy foreign minister.
"What is most important for us is that the US returns to full implementation of Resolution 2231. <...> If an agreement is reached now, but the JCPOA is not restored as it was concluded in 2015 and approved by Resolution 2231, this would mean that Washington continues to blatantly violate this resolution. And we will draw appropriate conclusions from what is happening," Ryabkov said.
In 2015, the permanent five members of the UN Security Council and Germany signed the JCPOA with Iran, aimed at overcoming the crisis around Tehran's nuclear developments. Previous US President Donald Trump decided in 2018 to withdraw from this agreement. The current head of the US administration, Joe Biden, has repeatedly signaled a willingness to bring Washington back into the nuclear deal.
Russia, Britain, Germany, China, the US and France have been negotiating with Iran in Vienna since April 2021 to restore the JCPOA to its original form. On November 10, 2022, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi announced that another round of consultations with representatives of the Islamic Republic ended in the Austrian capital with no result.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS