VIENNA, February 26. /TASS/. Russia views very negatively US attempts to put pressure on European Union countries so that they abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear program, Russia’s Permanent Representative to Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said on Tuesday.

"This is economic blackmail and blatant arbitrariness. The Americans have no legal basis for preventing other countries from complaying with the economic part of the nuclear deal that was approved by the UN Security Council," he said. "This is an attempt to fit on the uniform of a global economic policeman. Of course, our attitude to this is utterly negative," Ulyanov added.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, was signed between Iran and six international mediators (the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, and France) on July 14, 2015. On January 16, 2016, the parties to the deal announced beginning of its implementation. Under the deal, Iran undertook to curb its nuclear activities and place them under total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange of abandonment of the sanctions imposed previously by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal as it, in his words, leaves Iran a possibility to create a nuclear bomb bypassing all the restrictions. He promised to reinstate the former anti-Iranian sanctions and impose tighter ones. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated his country’s commitment to the deal, saying Teheran will continue to implement its liabilities. He called on the European Union to guarantee observance of its interests to keep the deal in place.