MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned about some Western countries’ attempts to exacerbate tensions in the Persian Gulf region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday.
"We are highly concerned about the escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf region. We can see that some of our Western colleagues are trying to aggravate the situation," Lavrov pointed out. "Russia and Iran oppose such attempts by calling for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in this important region," he added.
The Russian top diplomat emphasized that Moscow had put forward a concept aimed at ensuring regional security and Iran had come up with the Hormuz Peace Initiative. According to Lavrov, both proposals "are aimed at pooling efforts to stabilize the situation in the region." "We believe that they are a step in the right direction," he stressed.
Lavrov informed that Zarif and he planned to discuss cooperation in resolving the Syria issue and bilateral relations. "It would be useful to exchange views on developments in Syria and on our efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, including cooperation within the Astana process," the Russian foreign minister noted. "We will certainly discuss bilateral relations, particularly in light of the agreements made by Presidents Putin and Rouhani, including those concerning trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation," he specified.
Iranian nuclear deal
The nuclear deal with Iran is under the threat of collapse due to the stance of the United States and European participants, Sergey Lavrov stated.
Lavrov had briefed Zarif on Russia’s efforts for preserving "this important international agreement, which the United States is trying to undermine." "It is a major achievement of international diplomacy — I mean the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program," Lavrov went on.
"Regrettably, we have to point to the inconsistency of our EU counterparts, which have also failed to implement their JCPOA obligations to the full extent," Lavrov lamented. "We are certain that if this policy of defaulting on UN Security Council resolutions, which Washington dictates to all countries around the world without an exception, continues, all this may result in serious negative consequences for the whole region and international relations in general."
According to Russia's top diplomat, Western states forming part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program must adhere to their obligations, otherwise the agreement will be terminated. "We will demand that our Western partners accept reality," the minister said. "Either the US and the EU return to full adherence to their obligations under the JCPOA, which will lead to Iran returning to its voluntary obligations under the deal, as it has stated repeatedly… <…> Or, if our Western partners are unable to reaffirm their respect to international law and the reached agreements in this way, the JCPOA will be as good as gone, it will not exist anymore. And then we won’t be bound by any obligations," he added.
According to Lavrov, US actions in relation to the nuclear deal "contradict all possible norms of international law." "When an agreement has been negotiated and deemed obligatory by the UN Security Council, exiting this agreement is a blatant violation of all possible and impossible norms, principles and rules," he stressed. "At the same time, the US is forcing everyone else to violate the obligations they undertook in exchange for Iran adhering to the reached agreements. Meanwhile, Iran is expected to adhere to these agreements fully, which violates the very terms that this agreement was based on and that were approved by the UN Security Council."
"However, of course, we would still have the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the IAEA Safeguards Agreement and the additional protocol," he added.
"Of course, we would like to save the JCPOA, which has been lauded across the world as the greatest achievement of modern-day diplomacy and the crucial step towards reinforcing the non-proliferation regime of weapons of mass destruction," the minister continued. "We have welcomed the initiatives taken by our French colleagues to save the JCPOA, namely the well-known offer of [French President Emmanuel] Macron. Our Japanese neighbors have also tried to promote the agreement on all states returning to the JCPOA: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came forward with the corresponding ideas. So far, they are met with resistance, as far as I understand, taking into account the stance of the US, that demands that the dialogue be renewed solely on its terms. This is not how things are done."
"We would like to help. If our efforts are welcome, we will be ready to discuss the possible ways out of this crisis, which would satisfy our Iranian colleagues, because first and foremost, this is their issue, and which would be acceptable to other members of the JCPOA," Lavrov explained.
He noted that all conditions for saving the JCPOA "are on the table, they have been stipulated in the plan of action itself." "When we talk about the ways out of this situation, we strictly mean the ways to recover adherence to their obligations by all members of the JCPOA," the Russian top diplomat concluded.
Iran nuclear deal
The future of the Iranian nuclear deal was called in question after the United States’ unilateral walkout on May 8, 2018 and Washington’s introduction of oil export sanctions on Tehran. Iran argues that the other participants, in the first place, European ones ignore some of their economic obligations, so the deal makes no sense in its current shape. In this connection Iran began to gradually suspend some of its JCPOA liabilities concerning uranium enrichment and research.