Iran Sees Russia Reliable Partner on Int’l Stage

“I totally agree that Iran and Russia are reliable partners. Our cooperation concerning the regional and international agenda has been very honest; we have similar positions on many regional and global issues,” Araqchi said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ryabkov on Friday.

He further emphasized that the global situation was negatively affected by the policies of the US administration and some of its close allies in the Middle East, TASS news agency reported.

"We are very pleased to see Moscow maintain a logical, just and balanced position," he said, adding, "I would like to thank Russia for its position on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action."

The Iranian deputy foreign minister also noted that the current crisis surrounding the nuclear deal had stemmed from Washington’s actions.

At the same time, he was hopeful that other parties to the deal would continue to implement it. "We hope that the JCPOA’s European participants will remain committed to their obligations," he said.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

He said the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.

The second batch of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic took effect on November 4.

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