14 Oct 2017 15:02

Iran nuclear deal to remain valid despite U.S. position - Matviyenko

ST. PETERSBURG. Oct 14 (Interfax) - The Iran nuclear deal cannot be invalidated at one country's initiative and will remain in effect, Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko said.

"First of all, this is an international act, an international document adopted in the form of a [UN] Security Council resolution. This is not a bilateral agreement between Iran and the United States, and therefore it cannot be severed at an initiative of just one country, and it will certainly continue to be valid," Matviyenko told journalists on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in St. Petersburg on Saturday.

The international community has disapproved of the U.S.' possible withdrawal from the nuclear deal and criticized it as a unilateral step, Matviyenko said.

She said she hoped the U.S. would not withdraw from the deal after all.