Russia, China to prevent attempts to undermine Iran nuclear deal - Lavrov

BEIJING, April 23. /TASS/. Russia and China will prevent attempts to undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Monday. "We are opposed to revising these agreements. We believe attempts to nullify many years of international efforts made as part of negotiations between a group of six world powers and Iran are counterproductive," he stressed. "We will prevent attempts to undermine these agreements enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution." According to Russia’s top diplomat, the revision of such agreements is inadmissible. "Otherwise, that will be an attempt to revise one of the biggest achievements in international diplomacy in recent years," Lavrov noted. The deal on Iran’s nuclear program, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached between Iran and six international mediators (the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, and France) on July 14, 2015. On January 16, 2016, the parties to the deal announced beginning of its implementation. Under the deal, Iran undertook to curb its nuclear activities and place them under total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange of lifting the sanctions imposed previously by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program. On January 12, 2018, US President Donald Trump said the US would withdraw from the deal if it was not amended. He recalled that he had again extended the removal of sanctions against Iran, adding though that this was done to conclude an agreement with the European allies "to fix the deal’s disastrous flaws." Read more