Lavrov: US pullout from Iran deal shows incapacity to negotiate
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the US withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran was a violation of international law, and proved Washington’s complete inability to engage in talks and reach agreements.
“When the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, which they are now trying to revive, they not only stopped fulfilling their obligations, they banned all other countries from fulfilling the UN Security Council Resolution [2231],” Lavrov said in an interview with Chinese media outlets, referring to the UN resolution that endorses the agreement.
He added that the US pullout from the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was “a gross violation of international law, [and] a demonstration of the state's complete incapacity to negotiate.”
On May 8, 2018, former president Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the landmark pact and slapped sweeping sanctions as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran. The Trump administration imposed a total ban on Iran’s oil exports, the nation's main source of revenue.
In response, Iran started reducing its full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal after waiting for a full year for the Europeans to take remedial measures, but to no avail.
On December 1 last year, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of the “Strategic Action Plan to Lift Sanctions and Safeguard Interests of Iranian People,” to counteract sanctions imposed on Iran.
Now with Democratic President Joe Biden in the White House, Washington has signaled its willingness to rejoin the JCPOA, but it has conditioned the return to Tehran's reversal of its remedial measures, despite the US being the oath breaker.
The US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last month that the US would soon start a series of negotiations with Tehran in a bid to resume nuclear talks.
Iran says it will not hold any new negotiations on the JCPOA or on Washington’s return, and that the only way to keep the deal alive is for Washington to lift its sanctions in a practical and verifiable manner.
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