UNITED NATIONS, December 19. /TASS/. The United States and European participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) bear primary responsibility for the collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

"The United States and the European participants in the plan (the UK, Germany, and France - TASS) will not be able to cover up their own violation of the JCPOA and the resolution 2231 with any illegitimate unilateral actions and escalation of tension. It is these countries that bear the key responsibility for disrupting the implementation of the deal," he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

He added that Russia believes there is no alternative to the JCPOA and believes that restarting the deal is necessary for international security. "The Russian Federation is convinced that there is no alternative to the JCPOA. An early restart of the plan is the only way that meets the interests of regional and international security,"he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Germany, signed the JCPOA with Iran in 2015, with the goal of resolving the situation around Tehran's nuclear developments. Former US President Donald Trump opted to withdraw from this pact in 2018. Joe Biden, the current president of the United States, has often stated his willingness to return Washington to the nuclear accord. However, talks to fully restore the JCPOA fell through. In a confidential meeting with Democratic voters last November, Biden said that the Iran nuclear deal was virtually dead, although Washington, he said, had no intention of publicly stating that view. The video recording of this meeting was later made public.