According to TASS, "The Russian Federation is convinced that there is no alternative to the JCPOA. An early restart of the plan is the only way that meets the interests of regional and international security," Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
"We hope that the UN Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres], who calls the plan the best possible way to ensure the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program, will not allow, to put it mildly, controversial elements in his reports that jeopardize the already fragile prospects for the full restoration of the Vienna agreements," he added.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. Former US President Donald Trump illegally pulled out of the deal in 2018 while the current US President, Joe Biden, has signaled that he is ready to resurrect the agreement.
Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the US, and France have been in talks with Iran since April 2021 to reinstate the deal.
The talks to salvage the JCPOA kicked off in the Austrian capital of Vienna in April 2021, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.
The negotiations have been at a standstill since August due to Washington’s insistence on its hard-nosed position of not removing all the sanctions that were slapped on the Islamic Republic by the previous US administration. Iran maintains it is necessary for the other side to offer some guarantees that it will remain committed to any agreement that is reached.
AMK/PR