Russian FM Says Resuming Iran Nuclear Deal Too Important to Miss


TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged the West not to miss the opportunity to resume the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program.

Speaking to reporters in New York, Lavrov said, "It would be a huge mistake to skip the chance of resuming this deal."

It would be a huge mistake to miss the chance of resuming the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program due to West’s actions, the Russian foreign minister told reporters.

"We assume that the agreement to resume it was reached quite a while ago. Now, European countries have lost their enthusiasm for some reason, and US officials say via different channels on the conditions of anonymity that another option should be sought. It appears to me that it would be a huge mistake to skip the chance of resuming this deal," the top Russian diplomat said on Tuesday at a news conference to sum up the results of his visit to the United States within the framework of Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council, according to Tass.

He also pointed to the normalization of relations between Arab countries and Iran, saying, "This is a very healthy process. We, in principle, favor establishing some mechanisms of cooperation, transparency, confidence-building in the (Persian) Gulf region. At this stage, the resumption of the deal does not depend on Iran, or Russia, or China. The ones who destroyed it must now bring it back to life."

The previously agreed document is fully in line with this goal, he added.

"Attempts to create new requirements that were not mentioned in the initial text… complicate the process and reflect the policy of grasping unilateral advantages through bargaining or blackmail," Lavrov said.