The Kremlin positively assesses the US intention to lift sanctions against Iran, but stresses the particular importance of returning to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
"In itself, abandoning the call for sanctions is a good thing," the Kremlin spokesman said, explaining that sanctions pressure has not only failed to help resolve the Iranian nuclear problem but has brought the situation to a standstill.
"But it is the restoration of the JCPOA regime that is important," the Russian leader's spokesman stressed.
"We are a country that has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to the Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran, and we have always expressed regret that the United States left the JCPOA," Peskov recalled. "We still remain supporters of the document and call on everyone to do everything possible to implement it effectively," the Kremlin spokesman said.
New US position
Earlier, US Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Richard Mills sent a letter to the Security Council noting that the US was withdrawing its demand to reinstate the world Organization's sanctions on Iran. The letter also said that the measures in resolution 2231 on the Iran nuclear deal, which lifted previously imposed sanctions, remain in force, and that previous resolutions imposing sanctions that were then lifted in 2015 remain lifted in accordance with the text of the resolution.
On February 19, a State Department spokesman said that the United States looks forward to working with Russia and China on the Iranian nuclear program. A statement issued after talks between the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, France and the United States said the four countries were interested in consultations on Iran's nuclear program with Russia and China. At the same time, they expressed the desire to prevent the development of nuclear weapons by Iran. In addition, the Euro-Troika and the US expressed "a commitment to the common goal of returning Iran to full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA."
In 2018, Donald Trump, then president of the United States, decided to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program, after which Washington launched a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran, actually aimed at its economic strangulation. For his part, current President Joe Biden has previously repeatedly stated his willingness to bring the United States back into the deal.
The JCPOA was signed with Iran by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany in 2015 in order to overcome the crisis around Tehran's nuclear developments.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS
Based on materials from TASS