26 Sep 2018 17:26

Russia to make maximum effort to keep Iran in JCPOA - Matviyenko

MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax) - Russia will do everything it can to prevent Iran from withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) following the United States' withdrawal, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.

"Russia has done and will do everything it can to prevent Iran from withdrawing from this deal," Matviyenko told reporters on Wednesday.

The U.S.' withdrawal was a very serious mistake, she said.

"This agreement was achieved as the result of great efforts made by a whole group of countries, including Iran. It was a big diplomatic victory of the European Union, Russia, China, the United States, etc. And most importantly, there were no reasons for such a decision [the decision to withdraw] because the IAEA and the countries that are parties to the agreement confirmed at the UN General Assembly session yesterday that there are no problems with Iran in terms of its observance of the letter and spirit of the agreement," she said.

The U.S.' withdrawal from the deal undermines the authority of institutions such as the IAEA and destroys the international architecture," Matviyenko said.

A statement was recently made expressing the consolidated position of the EU, China, and Iran that cooperation needs to continue and that one cannot give in to unilateral sanctions, as this would violate the UN Charter and the decisions of the UN Security Council, she said.

"Time will tell if this position will stand and if it has a serious foundation, but in this situation, the U.S. has turned out to be isolated," she said.

Iran must not be driven into a corner and given the opportunity to continue working on creating nuclear weapons, she said.

"We firmly support the non-expansion of the club of nuclear states, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," Matviyenko said.

Driving Iran into a corner could have serious consequences, she said.

"I would not like this situation to get worse. We do hope that the United States of America will hear other states, will heed this position, and that some compromise will be found," Matviyenko said.