Russian, Iranian top diplomats discuss nuclear deal, bilateral ties

The Russian and Iranian foreign ministers discussed the Iranian nuclear deal and bilateral relations, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discussed over the phone the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, and the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow, a statement by the ministry said.

The ministers spoke out in favor of reviving the Iranian nuclear deal as soon as possible in its original form as approved by the UN Security Council, it said.

They also praised as “successful” the visit of the Iranian president and advocated for further expansion of cooperation in all areas based on the agreements of the leaders.

On Jan. 19, Raisi paid a three-day visit to Russia for the first time since he assumed the presidential office.

The Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2015 by Iran, the US, China, Russia, France, the UK, Germany, and the EU.

Under the agreement, Tehran committed to limit its nuclear activity to civilian purposes and in return, world powers agreed to drop their economic sanctions against Iran.

The US, under former President Donald Trump, unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to stop complying with the nuclear deal.