Hard to imagine legal withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal - Lavrov

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. It is hard to imagine a legal withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. "The Joint Plan of Action (JPA) is a large package of documents which describe all the aspects and details of the deal, including specific mechanisms to consider any claims that one participant might have against another," the Russian top diplomat noted when asked if Washington could possibly withdraw from the deal with Tehran. "Moreover, the package has been enshrined in a binding United Nations Security Council resolution," Lavrov added. "I don’t know what the Americans will announce in the coming days," the Russian foreign minister went on to say. He pointed out that "taking into account the status of the agreement, it is hard for me to imagine a legal withdrawal from the deal, which is a result of collective efforts, recognized by everyone as an international legal document that needs to be implemented." The Russian foreign minister also said that other participants in the deal "have stated that they insist on its full implementation." "We will see what kind of announcement will be made [by Washington - TASS], and after that it will be possible to make specific statements on the issue," Lavrov added. While addressing the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, US President Donald Trump said that the Iran nuclear deal was "one of the most incompetently drawn deals" that he ever had seen. Later he said that the United States could possibly withdraw from the deal with Tehran, but did not provide any details. Iran nuclear issue In 2015, Iran and six international mediators (the five 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 (JCPOA) for the Iranian nuclear program. Tehran pledged to produce no weapons-grade plutonium, to have no more than 300 kg of uranium enriched to 3.67% for a period of fifteen years, reequip its nuclear facilities and use them exclusively for peaceful purposes. On January 16, 2016, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union lifted their economic and financial restrictions against Iran imposed over its nuclear program. Read more