ST. PETERSBURG, October 13. /TASS/. The Iran nuclear deal was the main success of the international diplomacy since the end of the Cold War, but if the US violates the deal, it may provoke Iran to restart its nuclear program, Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Committee for Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev told reporters on Friday. He added that in this case, the US would be responsible and not Iran.
"For Iran, international guarantees not involving the US won’t be enough to ensure its national security," Kosachev said. "If the US chooses to follow this path to the end, Iran will have the right to make a responding move. It will still violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the documents drawn up by the IAEA, but from the political standpoint, one will have to agree that the US, and not Iran, will be to blame for the worst case scenario," the senior Russian senator added.
According to Kosachev, the Iran nuclear deal became "the most important success achieved by the international diplomacy since the end of the Cold War." "It took tremendous effort to achieve this victory, as every participant in talks had to abandon some of its principal positions in order to reach an agreement. The most important thing is that tensions surrounding Iran eased and Iran lost the opportunity to cite these tensions to justify some actions concerning its nuclear program. I believe that the current task is to maintain the deal," Kosachev stressed.
Wrong signal to North Korea
Besides, the Russian senator pointed out that under President Donald Trump, the United States "has been showing its unwillingness to abide by previous agreements over and over again." At the same time, there are agreements related not only to Iran, but also to the Middle East and North Korea "but the Iran issue is the most dangerous as Iran may restart both civil and military nuclear energy programs," the senator said.
According to Kosachev, in this case, it may send a signal to other countries, particularly to North Korea, "while the whole world has been trying to convince it to halt its nuclear program."
"If the US violates such guarantees without blinking an eye, then any other country that is wary about external interference and pressure, will protect itself by any possible means, including the development of nuclear programs," Kosachev noted saying that the US actions concerning Iran were "very dangerous."
"They are even more dangerous as far as the implementation of agreements concerning the nuclear non-proliferation and global strategic stability go," the senior Russian senator concluded.
Iran nuclear deal situation
On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that "Trump is expected to announce new conditions for US participation in the agreement among the US, Iran, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China and punt the issue to Congress."
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.