AFP
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart following their talks in Moscow on Tuesday.
Moscow and Tehran called for the rescue of the Iran nuclear deal yesterday, as their top diplomats held their first talks since Joe Biden’s election raised hopes of Washington returning to the agreement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said ahead of the talks in Moscow that “one of the most pressing topics is the task of rescuing the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA).”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif thanked Moscow for its efforts to repair the JCPOA after the US exit in 2018 and for Russia’s “constructive and principled” position on the deal.
Zarif urged unity between Moscow and Tehran “in order to save the JCPOA from the risks and fears that arose after the United States left this plan.”
The talks in Moscow come days after Zarif urged the US to make the “fundamental choice” to lift sanctions and reverse the “failed policies” of the previous administration, which took a hard line on Tehran.
He cautioned that any efforts from Washington to extract additional concessions would ultimately end in failure.
“Iran wants the nuclear deal it made,” Zarif wrote in an op-ed in the Foreign Affairs magazine.
The agreement was largely left in tatters after former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew and ordered officials to reimpose tough penalties against Tehran as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” policy.
The JCPOA deal was agreed in 2015 between Iran, the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. It offered sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and guarantees it would not seek an atomic bomb.
Iran maintains it has only pursued a civilian nuclear energy program.
A new wave of sanctions imposed by Trump’s administration have hit hard Iran’s vital oil sector and its international banking ties, plunging the economy into a recession. But Tehran has signaled it could be willing to engage the new White House administration while rhetoric from officials in Moscow has suggested a change in tack in Washington from the Trump administration.
Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken confirmed earlier this month Biden’s desire for Washington to return to the agreement, but both sides have said the other must return to full compliance before it is implemented again.
Since the deal began unraveling with the US exit, Russia and European signatories have advocated efforts to salvage it.
Time is running out for signatories to restore the nuclear deal and bring all parties back on track.
Legislation passed by Iran’s parliament in December requires Tehran to boost uranium enrichment and limit inspections by the United Nations if sanctions are not removed by February.