Russia TV pundit criticises messaging about nuclear war
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The Iran nuclear deal saw Western sanctions lifted under the administration of former US President Barack Obama. However, following the arrival of Donald Trump, the deal was essentially nulled as the US pulled out of the agreement following an executive order by the President. Recent attempts to negotiate a return of the US to the table have stalled over diplomatic talks in Vienna, with the US refusing to lift all sanctions against Iran prior to the deal returning to terms.
However, a recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi saw discussions surrounding the notion of restarting talks.
During the conversation, Mr Raisi said to his counterpart despite US-led pressures against Tehran over its nuclear programme, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has on many occasions confirmed that there had been no deviations in Iran’s nuclear activities.
He said: “We have fulfilled our commitments under the deal, and now is the time for the US to make a decision.”
Since April last year, Iran and Russia, in addition to four other countries, have been engaged in marathon negotiations in Vienna to bring the US back into the landmark agreement.
Read more stories like this by following Defence and Security Correspondent James Lee on Twitter by clicking here: @JamesLee_DE
Last night, a resolution that was tabled by the US, UK, Germany and France, expressed “profound concern” that a credible explanation had not been provided on the origins of traces of uranium found at several locations inside the country.
According to diplomats present at the meeting inside the UN headquarters in Vienna, 30 states voted in favour of the resolution, three (India, Libya, Pakistan) abstained and two (Russia and China) voted against it.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s Ambassador to the UN told POLITICO that the resolution would have a negative impact “for sure” on the Iran nuclear talks, expressing his dissatisfaction with the vote.
Iran reacted quickly, announcing even prior to the adoption of the resolution on Wednesday that it will remove two IAEA cameras installed inside Iran’s nuclear facilities to monitor nuclear activities and warned that it had “further measures in mind”.
In his Wednesday call with Mr Raisi , Putin slammed the US and its European allies at the IAEA Board of Governors, saying that his country opposes such moves.
He said: “We believe that their actions will not help resolve the current issues, and Russia’s position is to oppose such actions.”
The two leaders also discussed the need to continue diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement in the Austrian capital, according to the Kremlin’s readout of the call.
They underlined the need for the full implementation of the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the deal, by all original signatories.
Iran’s foreign minister said that the talks in Vienna had reached a sensitive point, and Western countries should take a realistic approach to settling remaining matters.
Hossein Amirabdollahian said: “We wonder whether the Western side can adopt a realistic approach to go through the remaining points of the talks.”
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Iran has always insisted its nuclear programme is for peaceful civilian use and has since 1969 been a signatory member of the non-proliferation treaty known as the NPT.
The imposing of sanctions on Iran has caused economic hardship on the people who have seen huge price rises and currency collapses since the withdrawal of the deal by Mr Trump.
Read more stories like this by following Defence and Security Correspondent James Lee on Twitter by clicking here: @JamesLee_DE
Attempts have been successful in the self-sufficient indigenous industry, however, reliance on imports and exports plays a vital part in the Iranian economy.
Aside from discussing the JCPOA, Putin sent condolences to Iran following a fatal train crash yesterday in which at least 22 people died, with many more injured.
Furthermore, President Raisi expressed Iran’s desire to bring the Ukraine war to a peaceful end using diplomacy.
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