Russia Not to Support US Bid to Change JCPOA: Lavrov
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday Moscow will not support attempts by Washington to modify the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, arguing such a move could also complicate diplomacy over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Lavrov spoke days after US President Donald Trump said he would waive nuclear sanctions against Iran for the last time to give Washington and its European allies a chance to fix the “terrible flaws” of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“We will not support what the United States is trying to do, changing the wording of the agreement, incorporating things that will be absolutely unacceptable for Iran,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow, Reuters reported.
Russia’s top diplomat, who stressed that Russia will work to preserve the existing Iran nuclear deal, also warned that the agreement’s collapse could be detrimental to dialogue with North Korea.
Lavrov suggested Pyongyang would look at how Iran had been treated by Washington and wonder if any deal it did with the United States on its missile and nuclear program would be called into question.
“If the deal is put aside and Iran is told, ‘you keep up with your obligations or we will impose sanctions again’, then you have to see it from North Korea’s point of view,” said Lavrov.
“They (North Korea) are being promised that sanctions will be lifted if they give up their nuclear program. They will give it up, but no one will lift the sanctions against Pyongyang.”
