“It is meaningless to continue unilateral commitments to the deal if we don’t enjoy its benefits as promised by the deal’s European parties,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart in Moscow.
Iran has said it will breach the deal’s limits on its nuclear activities one by one, ratcheting up pressure on the countries who still hope to save it.
Tehran has threatened to take further steps by Sept. 6, such as enriching uranium to 20 percent or restarting mothballed centrifuges, machines that purify uranium for use as fuel in power plants or, if very highly enriched, in weapons.
Tehran is prepared to take a “stronger step” in reducing its commitments under the deal with world powers if European countries don’t take action to save the pact, its foreign ministry’s spokesman said on Monday.
“The third step has been designed and will be stronger than the first and second steps to create balance between Iran’s rights and commitments to the JCPOA,” state news agency IRNA quoted the foreign ministry’s spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying on Monday.
However, Iran had earlier stressed that these steps are “reversible” if the European signatories of the pact fulfilled their obligations.
The Iran-Russia cooperation is fully-fledged and is definitely in the interest of the two nations, the region and the entire world, Zarif said in a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
The Iran-Russia joint cooperation commission has had a special role in expanding the relations between the two countries, the Iranian top diplomat said, adding that the Iranian energy minister is accompanying him during the Russia visit to exchange views with his Russian counterpart.
He added that the Americans have created obstacles for relations of some countries such as Russia and China with Iran.
“Unlike U.S., Iran and Russia want to secure stability in Syria,” Zarif said.
He noted, meanwhile, that the Islamic Republic extends the “hand in peace to neighboring countries and accepts any positive initiative.”
For his part, Lavrov said Moscow is interested in overcoming the impasse surrounding the situation with the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal.
“We follow and look at how the situation is developing, we welcome this if the steps are aimed at overcoming the current impasse, returning to the implementation of activities that are consistent with the JCPOA,” Lavrov said in the meeting with Zarif.
The top diplomats met today to discuss international problems, including the situation surrounding the nuclear deal, the Syrian settlement, as well as the situation in the Persian Gulf, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Zarif, who had visited a number of regional, European and East Asian countries in the past two weeks, traveled to Moscow late Sunday in continuation of the Islamic Republic’s talks with partners to find solutions to preserve the nuclear deal.
