MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. The dangerous situation in the Persian Gulf region, which is to a large extent the result of the United States’ decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program, increases the risk of a large-scale military conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Arab media posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on Thursday.

"The explosive situation in the region is, to a large extent, the result of Washington’s irresponsible policy, which not only refused to honor its commitments under the JCPOA approved by UN SC resolution 2231, but is also seeking further escalation by its acts of provocation," Lavrov stressed. "As a result, the risks of a large-scale military conflict are growing."

According to Russia’s top diplomat, this scenario gives risk to concern. "We must not allow the region to be drawn into a destructive armed standoff fraught with disastrous consequences not only for the Gulf countries, but also for the whole world," he said.

Iran and the permanent UN Security Council members (Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France) and Germany hammered out the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015 that restricted Tehran’s nuclear research in exchange for the lifting of UN sanctions and unilateral US restrictions.

In May 2018, the United States declared its pullout from the nuclear deal and imposed economic sanctions on Iran. One year later, on May 8, 2019, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that Tehran was suspending part of its nuclear deal obligations. In July, Tehran proceeded with the second phase of the suspension to declare uranium enrichment to a degree above 3.67% and warned it would downscale its commitments further on every 60 days until other participants resumed compliance with their own pledges.