MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Iran as a state, which has been committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for a long time, cannot be suspected of carrying out a covert nuclear weapons program, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Friday.

"We have always said and are saying now that a state, which has an agreement on comprehensive guarantees with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and which has been committed to this deal - and Iran has such an agreement, and a state, which has been fully observing the JCPOA for a long time, cannot be suspected of carrying out a covert program on weaponization in the nuclear field," Ryabkov said.

"That’s why we are saying that it’s vital to preserve the JCPOA. And we will be working to achieve this goal," Ryabkov said.

Earlier, the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States said in a statement after talks that they were interested in consultations on Iran’s nuclear program with the participation of Russia and China. Meanwhile, they expressed common interest in the security field in the issue of guarantees that Iran would never be able to develop nuclear weapons. Besides, the E3 and the United States affirmed their shared objective of "Iran’s return to full compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA.".