Official: Russia Considering Any Change to Iran’s Nuclear Deal “Destructive”

• Official: Russia Considering Any Change to Iran’s Nuclear Deal “Destructive”
  by http://en.farsnews.com/Default.aspx
  TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow will continue to honor its commitments under the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal reached with major world powers as long as other countries abide by their obligations.
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  “My country would deem any changes to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as destructive that could destabilize the already-volatile Middle East region,” Zakharova said.
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  She underlined that Washington’s course at bringing down the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program and restoring full-scale pressure through sanctions is absolutely unconstructive.
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  Zakharova underlined that the Trump administration’s measures would entail “long-term deplorable consequences for global nonproliferation of the weapons of mass destruction and will impart a destabilizing impulse to the situation in the Middle East”.
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  On Tuesday — when the US reintroduced its bans on Iran — the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement and criticized the US for violating UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the Iran deal.
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  “We denounce any unilateral sanctions in circumvention of the UN Security Council decisions, all the more so if they have exterritorial applications and affect the interests of third countries, as is the case with the current US restrictions against Iran,” the statement said.
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  Russia has vowed to reinforce its relations with Iran in all sectors now that the US has left the accord and chosen to build up economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.
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  Vladimir Yermakov, Director General of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, had said in early May that with the US exit “it might even be easier for us on the economic front, because we won’t have any limits on economic cooperation with Iran.”
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  US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington would no longer remain part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and promised to re-impose the highest level of economic sanctions against Iran.
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  The sanctions reinstated on Iran on May 8 included boycott of Iran’s crude supplies and bans on transfer of its crude revenues. There is a 180 days interval before these sanctions come into effect. Other US secondary sanctions are reinstated this month.
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  After Trump’s declaration, the Iranian government issued a statement, calling the US withdrawal as “unlawful”. The statement underlined Iran’s prerequisites for continuing the deal with the five world powers. These conditions that were reiterated later by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei later mainly included Iran’s guaranteed crude sales and transfer of its revenues back home.
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  Two months later, the other five powers party to the nuclear deal have failed to satisfy Iran. President Hassan Rouhani voiced his disappointment over a recent package of incentives proposed by the European Union countries to Tehran, and said that the Islamic Republic expected a much better, clearer and explicit stance by the EU.
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