MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. The US side has effectively lost interest in negotiations to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), instead choosing to meddle in Iran's internal affairs, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"We have received indications from Washington that point to the American side’s reluctance to resume talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA]. They have no interest in this process and intend to keep on supporting the anti-government activities in Iran," Zakharova said speaking at a daily news briefing.
"Simply speaking, Washington is inciting riots there and brazenly meddles with the internal affairs of this country," she continued.
According to Zakharova, all this underscores once again the inability of the United States to act as a reliable partner that keeps its commitments.
"There is a desire to camouflage its own shortcomings and gaps in negotiating with Tehran, switching to its usual methods of pressure against unwanted parties and interfering into their domestic affairs," the Russian diplomat noted.
The US side, Zakharova continued, is pursuing its current line "for electoral reasons or due to other circumstances of its domestic political agenda."
At the same time Moscow is calling on Washington to cancel its previously imposed sanctions against Iran as soon as possible and to return to the legal framework within the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), she said.
"We are once again calling on Washington for an urgent and permanent cancellation of all previously imposed anti-Iranian sanctions and for an immediate return to the JCPOA legal framework and the [UN Security Council] Resolution 2231," the Russian diplomat stated.
Zakharova stated that this narrative is accompanied by the decision of the European Union as of October 17 to introduce another set of sanctions "against those guilty human rights violations in Iran."
"If you are so concerned with human rights protection in Iran, I would like to remind you that Tehran never ordered its people to cut on [water] taking a bath or shower, resort to alternative heating sources or save on electricity supplies," she said.
"At the same time, the European Union is grossly violating the primary basic right to individual hygiene," she said. "This is why you should take a closer look of what is going on with you before starting to point a finger at Iran."
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and the UN Security Council’s five permanent members - Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the US and France - and Germany. It envisaged the gradual lifting of sanctions on Iran, including all bans on its oil and petroleum product exports, in exchange for steps to make sure that the country’s nuclear program is purely civilian-oriented. The US pulled out of the deal in 2018, blocking its implementation entirely. Attempts have been made to resurrect the deal since 2021, but those have so far been futile.