All news

Lavrov urges journalists to ask US to explain JCPOA-related delays

The top diplomat reiterated that a year ago, the US claimed "loudly and aggressively" that Russia had blocked an agreement on the return to the JCPOA

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged journalists on Tuesday to ask Washington to explain when they will eventually react to the document on the return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program.

Russia has long agreed to the proposed version of the document. "Regarding when the US will stop stalling in the reaction to the document on the Iranian nuclear dossier, obviously the question is not for me," Lavrov pointed out at a press conference following talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, referring the questions to Washington.

The top diplomat reiterated that a year ago, the US claimed "loudly and aggressively" that Russia had blocked an agreement on the return to the JCPOA. "[They] didn't cite a single fact. A year has passed, and Russia has long ago confirmed that it agreed with the version of the document, which has now been presented to all parties to the process. The United States has not yet given its response," he said.

Earlier, the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said in Madrid that most of the countries participating in the talks with Iran supported the EU proposal for a nuclear deal. On Monday, he called Iran’s response to the proposal reasonable, pointing out that there was no official response from the US yet. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on August 17 that work in the Vienna format to restore the JCPOA had entered the final stretch.