Russian MP:

US Initiative to Review Iran Nuclear Deal Doomed

TEHRAN (defapress)- Head of the Russian State Duma’s (lower house) International Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky branded the working group set up by the US and the 'European trio' (the UK, Germany and France) to draft additional agreements on Iran’s nuclear deal as "a dubious body" and doomed to failure.

News ID: 68252

Date: 24 January 2018 - 13:42

"The working group set up by the US and the ‘European trio’ to draft additional agreements on the so-called Iranian deal is a dubious body, which will hardly contribute to resolving the situation around Tehran’s nuclear program," Slutsky told reporters on Tuesday.

He also underlined that signing additional agreements or creating other mechanisms can have an adverse effect on the implementation of the existing agreements on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"The fact that Washington is vigorously promoting, if not to say, pushing its policy aimed at revising the Iranian deal on European platforms is a very negative signal. I will repeat that this can undermine the implementation of the JCPOA and exacerbate the overall nuclear security and disarmament situation," Slutsky concluded.

Earlier reports said Washington insists on drafting an additional agreement to the nuclear deal with Iran or hammering out a different mechanism for it to allay US concerns over Tehran’s activities, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Monday. According to Tillerson, in order to discuss the prospects for signing such additional agreements, the US and the EU ‘big three’ (the UK, Germany and France) have set up a working group, which will get down to business next week.

On July 14, 2015, Iran and the six world powers (the US, the UK, China, Russia and France plus Germany) reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. On January 16, 2016, the parties to the agreement announced the beginning of its execution. Under the deal, Iran took on the responsibility of curbing its nuclear activities and placing them under the total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for the removal of international sanctions imposed previously over its nuclear program. The incumbent Trump administration insists on revising the deal.