Russia Says to Honor JCPOA As Long As Others Do
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Moscow would honor its commitments on the Iran nuclear deal for as long as other countries did.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday Russia would deem any changes to the deal to be unacceptable too, the Interfax news agency reported.
Moscow has repeatedly said it wants the deal left intact.
US President Donald Trump faces a May 12 deadline to decide whether to pull the United States out of the 2015 agreement, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
Since the nuclear deal was signed in Vienna in July 2015, the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly confirmed Iran’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA.
In a video message released on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated that Tehran will by no means agree to renegotiate the JCPOA or add any new terms to it, warning that Iran will choose how to respond to a US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
“If the US continues to violate the agreement, or if it withdraws all together, we will exercise our right to respond in a manner of our choosing. Bluster or threats won’t get the US a new deal particularly as it is not honoring the deal it has already made,” Zarif explained.
