Speaking in a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday, Sergey Lavrov pointed to the sanctions imposed by EU on 11 Iranian individuals and entities and emphasized, “We hope that European Union will understand the unacceptability of imposing sanctions on Iran in JCPOA talk terms and conditions and Moscow condemns any attempt to disrupt the Vienna talks to revive JCPOA.”
Lavrov also criticized unilateral and illegal US sanctions imposed against Iran, stressing that Washington should lift all unilateral sanctions imposed against Islamic Republic of Iran.
The top Russian diplomat said, “Our position is clear, our position is completely in line with the position of our Iranian friends. All unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington are in violation of JCPOA and these sanctions must undoubtedly be lifted."
According to published reports, Russian Foreign Minister's remarks on the need to lift illegal and unilateral US sanctions came as a senior US State Department official stressed last week that Iran’s request for lifting all sanctions imposed by the US government on Iran since 2017 is unacceptable for Washington.
The second meeting of Joint Commission of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had been resumed in Austrian capital Vienna on Tuesday, was held on Friday and it is scheduled that the next round of the talk will be held in Vienna on Wednesday, April 14.
The European Union on Monday added eight Iranian individuals and three entities to its sanctions list on the pretext of human rights violation.
The travel bans and asset freezes are the first time the EU has imposed sanctions on Iran on the pretext of human rights abuses since 2013.
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