VIENNA, September 11. /TASS/. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program has not been fully implemented due to the policy of Western countries, particularly the US, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov stated.

"The root cause of the current situation with the JCPOA is unchanged: the unilateral illegitimate withdrawal of the US from it, the ongoing policy of maximum pressure on Iran and the refusal to finalize the negotiation process to reanimate the JCPOA," the diplomat said in his speech at the session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors.

According to Ulyanov, if the JCPOA now remained in full force, it would "eliminate all existing concerns about the Iranian nuclear program."

The diplomat recalled that in June, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution proposed by the UK, France, and Germany criticizing Iran for allegedly insufficient cooperation with the IAEA. As a result, Iran, which was "once again provoked," launched new centrifuges to enrich uranium, Ulyanov added.

"We urge our opponents not to resort to a destructive policy, not to escalate the situation with the Iranian nuclear program, but to reconsider approaches that lead to narrowing space for the diplomatic process to restore the JCPOA," the diplomat concluded.

The Iranian nuclear deal

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal, was signed by Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France) and Germany in 2015. The conclusion of the deal marked the end of a crisis that began in 2004 when Western countries accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons, prompting sanctions against the Islamic republic. The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under President Donald Trump.

Incumbent head of the US administration Joe Biden has repeatedly signaled that Washington was ready to return to nuclear deal. In April 2021, Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the United States and France entered negotiations with Iran in an effort to restore the JCPOA to its original form. On November 10, 2022, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said another round of talks in Vienna had ended without any results.