TEHRAN (Iran News)  Dmitry Peskov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office and Presidential Press Secretary, has emphasized the importance of strong relations and partnership with Iran for Russia, adding that Russian officials are eager to assist in resolving significant issues, including the nuclear program.

In an exclusive interview with IRNA correspondent in Moscow on Tuesday, Peskov said that the cooperation between Iran and Russia is independent of the relations between the Kremlin and the White House.

The spokesperson’s comments followed a phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last Wednesday (February 12). During the call, they agreed to arrange an in-person meeting, and the Kremlin indicated that Iran’s nuclear program was among the topics discussed by the two heads of state.

When asked about Moscow’s stance on Iran’s nuclear program, Peskov said that Russian authorities believe a diplomatic solution is possible if there is political will from all parties involved.

According to Peskov, the Iranian nuclear program was mentioned during the phone call between the two presidents; however, this issue was not a primary focus, as the main topic was the comprehensive restoration of Russia-U.S. relations.

He further said that Moscow values its partnership with Iran and it intends to expand these relations comprehensively, including efforts to address major issues like the nuclear program.

Peskov also said that the presidents of Russia and the U.S. discussed various Middle Eastern issues, but they did not delve into details of the challenges facing the region.

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According To Iran News, The ongoing riots in the United States is the country’s domestic affair and Russia is not meddling in these events and is not going to do this, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

“We are certainly very carefully watching what is going on in the United States. But everything that is happening there is this country’s domestic affair,” Peskov stressed, according to TASS.

“We have never meddled in US affairs and we are not going to interfere now,” he said.

Peskov dismissed a statement by Susan Rice, a former national security advisor to US President Barack Obama (2009-2017), as wrong and not reflect the official position of the Trump administration. Earlier Rice claimed that the riots, triggered by the death of African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis, allegedly came “right out of the Russian playbook.”

In a comment on this statement, Peskov said, “Any speculation like the one you have mentioned is certainly absolutely wrong and erroneous. As far as we understand, such speculation cannot reflect Washington’s official stance.”

On Sunday, Obama’s ex-advisor Rice told CNN that there were peaceful protesters focused on disparities that had to be addressed and there were extremists, who had come to “try to hijack those protests and turn them into something very different.” Rice noted that based on her experience “this is right out of the Russian playbook.” According to her, Russia’s goal was not just to embarrass the US but to divide Americans.

Following the tragic death of an American black man on May 25, 2020, due to the violence of a white Minneapolis police officer, nationwide protests have erupted in the United States.

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Pointing to Iran’s action in reducing its nuclear commitments, he said the announcement by Iran is one of the “consequences” of the United States abandoning the landmark deal.

“Russia and President (Vladimir) Putin warned of the consequences that would be imminent after one of the countries decided to end its obligations and exit the deal,” Peskov said.

Iran officially announced on Sunday it has started enriching uranium to a higher purity than the current 3.67%, as the Europeans missed a 60-day deadline by Tehran to devise a concrete mechanism to protect the country from the U.S. sanctions.

In a post on his Twitter page on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, “Today, Iran is taking its second round of remedial steps under Para 36 of the JCPOA. We reserve the right to continue to exercise legal remedies within JCPOA to protect our interests in the face of US #EconomicTerrorism. All such steps are reversible only through E3 compliance.”

Paragraph 36 provided a mechanism to resolve disputes and allows one side, under certain circumstances, to stop complying with the deal if the other side is out of compliance.

E3 includes the three European countries of Britain, France and Germany which are party to the JCPOA.

On May 8, Iran’s Supreme National Council (SNSC) declared Tehran’s exit from “certain” obligations under the landmark agreement and gave a 60-day deadline to the remaining JCPOA signatories to protect Iran’s interests against U.S. sanctions, or it will restart high-level uranium enrichment.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said on Sunday that Moscow understands the reason behind Iran’s steps in reducing commitments under the JCPOA.

“We understand the steps taken [by Iran], the reasons that pushed the Iranians to take them. We call on Iran to refrain from further actions that could complicate the situation with the nuclear deal even more,” he told Sputnik.

It will be possible to determine by how much Iran had increased its uranium enrichment limit in a few days, he added, stressing that a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s uranium enrichment levels may be presented at a special session of the agency’s governing board on July 10.

“In any case, there is space to continue diplomatic efforts, they will be continued,” Ulyanov noted.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, a top official at Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, announced on Monday that level of uranium enrichment has reached 4.5 percent. He said this degree of enrichment is enough to power nuclear plants producing electricity.

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“This is delving into conspiracy theory, which has nothing to do with reality,” Peskov said, commenting on a popular idea in the US that the Russian and US leaders have some personal arrangement and that all sanctions against Moscow are some child’s game that will soon come to an end.

“Sanctions are no child’s game, this is a very serious thing,” Peskov stressed, TASS reported.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, any threats to impose restrictions on carrying out the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project “are an explicit attempt to ensure a competitive advantage for US liquefied gas, which is more expensive than Russian (gas).”

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 Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed the necessity of continuing to exert efforts for a political settlement to the crisis in Syria.

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“In this particular case, either Kommersant’s or Bloomberg’s sources failed them. That’s what I can answer,” he said when asked to confirm information provided by some sources who said that agreements on the withdrawal of the Iran-backed forces from Syria could be the key issue at the upcoming meeting between the Russian and U.S. leaders.

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“What is the main thing is the inviolability of this deal; otherwise, there will be no platform for continuing contacts and for continuing the dialogue,” TASS quoted Peskov as saying.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Moscow and Beijing would try to block any U.S. attempt to sabotage the nuclear deal

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