Russia: Any Proposal Similar to ‘JCPOA+’ Wrong
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov rejected calls for the expansion of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, saying any proposal similar to “JCPOA+” is “wrong” and “inconvenient”.
In a post on its Twitter account on Monday, the Russian Mission in Vienna quoted Ryabkov as saying that Moscow was opposed to expanding the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan (JCPOA).
“Russian DFM S.#Ryabkov: Gradual steps & reciprocity, proposed by Russian FM #Lavrov back in the days, were key principles of #JCPOA elaboration. Adding smth extra to the existing #NuclearDeal now will make things worse. So we think putting fwd ideas like ‘JCPOA+’ is wrong & inconvenient,” the tweet read.
He was referring to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s interview with Iranian news agencies earlier this month, in which he emphasized that the JCPOA should be neither reviewed nor renegotiated.
Echoing the US, the European signatories to the JCPOA — France, Germany and the UK — have been calling for an expanded nuclear deal with Iran that would also cover the country’s national missile program and its regional role.
Earlier this month, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas spoke of what he called a “nuclear deal plus” with Iran.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and six world states — namely the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — and was ratified in the form of UNSC Resolution 2231.
However, the US under President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted by the deal.
As the remaining European parties failed to fulfill their end of the bargain and compensate for Washington’s absence, Iran moved in May 2019 to scale back its JCPOA commitments.
