MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Tehran plans to continue cooperation with Moscow in implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for the country’s nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Saturday.
"We are very pleased that Russia has been supporting Iran within international organizations in accordance with international law, particularly as far as the Iran nuclear deal is concerned, and we will continue cooperation in the future," he said. "Taking into account the measures that might be taken and negative expectations concerning the behavior of some JCPOA members, our dialogue on this issue will be very useful, so we will continue dialogue and cooperation with Russia," the Iranian foreign minister added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is concerned about calls to review the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
"Today, we have a good opportunity to look into the situation surrounding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which causes us great concern so we would like to hold a thorough discussion," Lavrov said.
He pointed to active Russian-Iranian dialogue on bilateral cooperation, mentioning regular contacts between the two countries’ parliaments and the effective activities of the inter-governmental commission on trade and economic cooperation. "We hope that it will facilitate the growth of trade in the wake of a certain slowdown," the Russian top diplomat added.
In addition, Lavrov stressed that Russia valued dialogue on the Caspian Sea issue and other regional problems, as well as on global issues, including cooperation with Iran and Turkey aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis.
Iran nuclear deal issue
In 2015, Iran and six major powers (five member states of the United Nations Security Council - Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and China - and Germany) agreed on the final Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for the Iranian nuclear program, which particularly stipulates the removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program.
US President Donald Trump has many times criticized the deal accusing Iran of violating it. He particularly said that it was "one of the most incompetently drawn deals" that he had ever seen.
On January 12, Trump stated that the United States may withdraw from the deal unless it was amended. In late April, a US administration official said that Washington, Paris, Berlin and London had made progress in talks on amending the deal but no final decision had been taken.