Lavrov’:

JCPOA deadlock result of US ‘irresponsible behavior

TEHRAN (defapress) – The irresponsible policies of the US government have led to an ‘unacceptable situation’ in which the multilateral pact on Iran’s nuclear program may fail, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

News ID: 77295

Date: 08 May 2019 - 14:59

Sergey Lavrov criticized the US during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, who personally brought a letter from his government informing Russia about Tehran’s latest decision on the nuclear agreement.

“As I understand, our main task here is to discuss the unacceptable situation, which has unfolded around the JCPOA as a result of irresponsible behavior by the United States,” the Russian diplomat said before negotiations with the Iranians, RT reported.

Also Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed US for Iran nuclear deal roll-back, saying, "President (Putin) has repeatedly spoken of the consequences of unthought-out steps regarding Iran and by that I mean the decision taken by Washington (to quit the deal). Now we are seeing those consequences are starting to happen," Reuters reported.

"We see the consequences [of rash US moves towards Iran]. Of course, Russian diplomats will continue to discuss this topic with our European partners in order to work on preserving the viability of this accord,” Sputnik quoted him as saying.

The remarks came as Iran revealed on Wednesday countermeasures to US’ withdrawal from the nuclear deal, giving the other remaining parties to the JCPOA a 60-day ultimatum to comply with their commitments, particularly those regarding Iran’s economic interests in the banking and energy sectors, before reducing further commitments to the agreement stage by stage.

The decision to reduce commitments to the JCPOA comes as Washington is ramping up pressure against Iran, by re-imposing new sanctions, including restrictions on Iran's low-level uranium enrichment, and ending the sanctions waivers for Iran’s major oil clients in an attempt to drive the country’s oil exports to zero.

Iran has stressed that it has no intention to leave the JCPOA, and its decision on reducing commitments is still within the framework of the agreement.

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