TEHRAN (Iran News) – President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call on July 15 said there is “no point” in sanctions’ pressure against Iran, according to the Kremlin’s press office.
The two politicians discussed “a number of pressing issues” with regards to bilateral ties, including the coronavirus response, Iran’s nuclear deal officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the issue of Ukraine.
“When discussing Iran, the Russian president emphasized that putting pressure on Tehran with sanctions was pointless, the effort to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian Nuclear Program, as approved by UN Security Council resolution 2231 was needed”, Sputnik reported.
The historic deal was reached on July 14, 2015, between Iran and a group of countries then known as the P5+1 — which included the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany.
In May 2018, Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA and reimposed the sanctions that had been lifted under the deal. He also imposed secondary sanctions on third parties that sought to do business with Iran, effectively targeting the European parties to the deal.
Verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran remained fully compliant with the JCPOA for an entire year, waiting for the co-signatories to honor their commitments and offset the impacts of the US withdrawal.
But, as the European parties continued to renege on their obligations, the Islamic Republic moved to scale down its commitment to the deal in a gradual format and based on the provisions of the deal itself that addressed a party’s legal rights in case of non-performance by other parties.
Presently, US is seeking to extend an arms embargo on Iran that is to expire under the nuclear deal. Russia has earlier this month announced that the US controversial bid to extend an arms embargo on Iran will jeopardize the prospect of the agreement’s continued preservation.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on July 2 that the US push was “not only unjustified but also counterproductive in terms of the prospects of preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)”.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
