MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. The United States must return to the fold of the Iranian nuclear deal without any preconditions or extra demands, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.
"We proceed from the understanding that the United States’ return to the fold of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for the Iranian nuclear program must not be linked with any extra preconditions or requirements," she said. "We believe that progress in this respect will be achieved. We have taken note of the Iranian leadership’s repeated confirmations it is prepared to act precisely this way."
Zakharova recalled that the participants in the foreign minister level meeting of the JCPOA signatories confirmed precisely this kind of attitude to the agreement.
"Attempts to reconfigure the nuclear deal ended in failure," Zakharova said. "It is alive and will continue to be implemented systematically, just as the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2231 (on the nuclear deal) the way it was unanimously approved on July 20, 2015. All countries, including the United States, are obliged to comply with this resolution without any reservations."
On December 17, the IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in an interview a new agreement would be required for breathing a new life into the nuclear deal (should the United States under the Joe Biden-led administration decide to return) to guarantee Iran will correct the committed violations. Grossi believes it is very unlikely the United States will agree to get back to the starting point in view of Iran’s nuclear activity.