Iran-Russia Cooperation Benefits Region, World: Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif highlighted the importance of bilateral ties between Tehran and Moscow and said the two sides’ close cooperation is to the benefit of both nations as well as other countries in the region and the world.
The Iran-Russia joint cooperation commission has had a special role in expanding the relations between the two countries, Zarif said at a joint press conference in Moscow on Monday.
Today, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian has come to Moscow and will exchange views with his Russian counterpart, he added.
“Our relations with Russia are at an acceptable level,” the top diplomat said, adding that although the US has created obstacles for Russia, China and other countries, Tehran and Moscow have close ties.
Speaking to reporters upon arrival in Moscow on Sunday, Zarif had said that he would brief the Russian "friends" on the latest developments regarding the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), particularly the recent talks held in France.
"We have common stances on the JCPOA with Russia and China and many other global developments," he said.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany) on July 14, 2015, reached a conclusion over the text of the JCPOA.
The accord took effect in January 2016 and was supposed to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran all at once, but its implementation was hampered by the US policies and its eventual withdrawal from the deal.
On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the nuclear accord.
Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the deal.
However, the EU’s failure to ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments, including an unlimited rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.
Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said recently that the country’s enriched uranium stockpile has reached 360 to 370 kilograms.