MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. Russia sees no alternative to the Iran nuclear deal and call on all the parties to it to refrain from steps that might push Teheran towards withdrawal from it, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"Russia, like practically all the nations, stands for keeping the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) in place. We see no alternative to this agreement. We call on everyone to refrain from steps that might push Iran towards withdrawing this deal. We think that it would have adverse impacts and we condemn the United States for its withdrawal from the JCPOA," he said.

Washington’s anti-Iranian restrictions that, unlike the United Nations Security Council sanctions, are not legitimate from the point of view of international law "must not be an obstacle for us to continue our bilateral relations and trade-and-economic cooperation with Iran," Peskov stressed.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, Russia is building mutually beneficial and quite close relations with Iran, which is playing an important role in regional affairs and in the Syrian settlement. "It is absolutely illogical and inadmissible to turn a blind eye on Iran’s role," he noted.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, was signed 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 undertakes to curb its nuclear activities and place them under total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange of abandonment of the sanctions imposed previously by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program.

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s decision to withdraw from the deal, saying it leaves Iran a possibility to create a nuclear bomb bypassing all the restrictions. He warned the United States would reinstate its old anti-Iranian sanctions and would imposed new ones. The first round of sanctions covering Iran’s automotive sector and trade in gold and metals was re-imposed in early August. Further sanctions came into effect from November 5 and cover Iran’s oil exports and more than 700 banks, companies and individuals.

Other signatories to the JCPOA - Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom - have reiterated their commitment to the deal.