Moscow made the demand last week amid reports of an imminent agreement after more than 11 months of negotiations aimed at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA…reports Asian Lite News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow has received written guarantees from Washington that Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine will not affect cooperation with Iran within the framework of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Lavrov’s remarks on Tuesday – delivered as he hosted his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, for talks in the Russian capital – could potentially signal that Russia’s demand that the sanctions would not impede its future dealings with Iran has been fulfilled.
Moscow made the demand last week amid reports of an imminent agreement after more than 11 months of negotiations aimed at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the nuclear deal is formally known. The United States called Russia’s last-minute demand “irrelevant”, while the so-called E3 countries – France, Germany and the United Kingdom – had warned it could lead to the collapse of the talks.
In a joint news conference, Lavrov and Amirabdollahian rejected claims that Russia’s demand was presenting an “obstacle” to negotiations in the Austrian capital and backed a quick return to the deal that the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018.
“We received written guarantees. They are included in the text of the agreement itself on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear programme,” Lavrov said.
For his part, Amirabdollahian said “there will be no connection between developments in Ukraine and the Vienna talks”.
He added: “If we reach an agreement with the US on remaining issues which relate to some of Iran’s main red lines, based on my talks with Mr Lavrov today Russia will remain beside the Islamic Republic of Iran until reaching a good and sustainable agreement, continuing to play the constructive role it has played since the start.”
Amirabdollahian also stressed Iran was now a “strong and independent” party in the talks and would not allow pressure to prevent its cooperation with any country. He also called on the US to abandon its “excessive demands” so an agreement could be reached as soon as possible.