News / Politics

Russia defends Iran’s legal right to benefit from nuclear deal

Wednesday, 18 December 2019 9:31 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 18 December 2019 10:11 AM ]

Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev (3rd L) holds talks with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, in Tehran on December 18, 2019. (Photo by IRNA)

Russia’s top security official has defended Iran’s legal right to reap benefits from a 2015 multilateral nuclear deal, reminding the other signatories of their “unavoidable” responsibility to meet their end of the bargain.

Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev made the remarks in a meeting with Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani in Tehran on Wednesday.

Patrushev said the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a binding international agreement.

To protect the JCPOA, it is an “unavoidable necessity” for Iran to be able to exercise its legal rights and reap the benefits of the deal and for all parties to fully implement their side of the accord, the Russian official added.

The JCPOA was signed between Iran and six world states — namely the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China — in 2015. It was later ratified in the form of a UN Security Council resolution.

However, Washington’s exit in May 2018 and the subsequent re-imposition of sanctions left the future of the historic agreement in limbo.

In compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic has, since May 2019, gone through four stages in scaling back parts of its commitments in retaliation for the US’s pullout and Europe’s failure to shield business transactions with Iran against the American bans.

Shamkhani, for his part, hailed Moscow’s stance against Washington’s illegal JCPOA-related measures as well as its support for Tehran’s counter-measures.

“If Europe continues the path of non-compliance with [its] obligations, we will have no choice but to take the next steps to make a balance in commitments,” he added.

Patrushev has traveled to Tehran to attend the second session of the Regional Security Dialogue with a focus on Afghanistan.

Iran, Russia, China, India, Afghanistan hold security talks in Tehran

The Iranian capital hosts senior security officials from Russia, China, India and Afghanistan for a meeting on regional peace.

During his meeting with Shamkhani, he said that the event, which is being held upon an Iranian initiative, clearly shows that regional countries feel duty-bound to help establish peace and stability.

Shamkhani, for his part, underlined the need for boosting synergy between Iran and Russia to establish sustainable security in the region given the two states’ successful strategic cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

He further noted that trans-regional countries, particularly the US and the Israeli regime, want insecurity in the region, emphasizing, “Constant vigilance and collective cooperation can foil the enemies’ mischief and guarantee regional peace and stability.”

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