No replacement for Iran nuclear deal - Chinese ambassador to Russia

MOSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. Beijing expects all parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program to take their obligations seriously, new Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said in an interview with TASS. "The JCPOA is very important and cannot be replaced," he pointed out. "China highly values Iran’s strict compliance with the plan, which was repeatedly confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and hopes that other JCPOA participants will also take their obligations seriously," the Chinese ambassador added. Zhang Hanhui was hopeful that the international community would make every possible effort to protect the economic benefits the agreement offered to Iran, creating conditions for Tehran to continue implementing its obligations. According to the ambassador, the United States’ rejoining the nuclear deal is "the only real and effective way" to resolve the Iran nuclear issue. "Together with Russia, China will continue to monitor the situation and take active efforts within the United Nations to resolve the Iran nuclear issue and ease tensions," the Chinese ambassador emphasized. Iran nuclear deal issue In 2015, Iran and six major powers (the five permanent member states of the United Nations Security Council - Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and China - and Germany) agreed on the final Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which particularly stipulated the removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program. On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. In contrast, Great Britain, Germany and France called on other participants in the deal to continue fulfilling it. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow would seek to maintain the agreement. On May 8, 2019, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that Tehran was reducing its commitments under the JCPOA, saying that the other signatories had two months to return to compliance. The deadline expired on July 7. On July 8, Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi said that Tehran had exceeded the uranium enrichment level set by the JCPOA. Read more