"Russia, like practically all the nations, stands for keeping the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) in place. We see no alternative to this agreement. We call on everyone to refrain from steps that might push Iran towards withdrawing from this deal. We think that it would have adverse impacts and we condemn the United States for its withdrawal from the JCPOA," TASS quoted Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Washington’s anti-Iranian restrictions that, unlike the United Nations Security Council sanctions, are not legitimate from the point of view of international law "must not be an obstacle for us to continue our bilateral relations and trade-and-economic cooperation with Iran," Peskov stressed.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, Russia is building mutually beneficial and quite close relations with Iran, which is playing an important role in regional affairs and in the Syrian settlement. "It is absolutely illogical and inadmissible to turn a blind eye on Iran’s role," he noted.
On May 8, the US as one of the signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, withdrew from the agreement and re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran which had been lifted under the JCPOA. Iran has stressed that it would continue to abide by the JCPOA as long as other parties and the EU could guarantee the country's economic interests. For this purpose, the EU has been working on a financial mechanism, the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle, to facilitate trade transaction with Iran in the face of US sanctions.
MS/TASS