The Iranian government’s decision announced on January 5 to continue the suspension of its voluntary commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear programme is the result of accumulating contradictions within the deal, which all the remaining signatories should continue working to settle. We see no other effective formula for saving the nuclear deal.

We believe that the preservation of the comprehensive arrangements and their sustainable implementation should remain the main goal for all the partners. We call on all the countries involved to be guided by these considerations and not to create additional tension and uncertainty with regard to the JCPOA, which is a global achievement.

We have taken note of Iran’s official statement to the effect that the latest suspension is the final one. We expect the IAEA to confirm this.

It is even more important that Tehran has proclaimed readiness to resume its full commitment to the JCPOA as soon as its legitimate concerns are lifted regarding other signatories’ failure to comply with the deal’s conditions. It is true that there are omissions in this regard, which have been put on the agenda more than once. We hope that the much needed solutions will be eventually found. Much depends on our European colleagues in this respect.

Iran’s statement that it no longer considers itself to be bound by any restrictions under the JCPOA should be viewed in the context of the related developments, beginning in May 2018 when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal. The subsequent massive US attacks on the JCPOA and the countries that continued to abide by the arrangements, which were sealed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, have seriously complicated the implementation of the nuclear deal. These are the root causes for the current JCPOA crisis. All members of the international community are fully aware of this, which means that responsibility for the crisis cannot be shifted onto Iran.

In itself, Tehran’s refusal to abide by the JCPOA restrictions on the development of its uranium enrichment facilities and technology does not pose the threat of nuclear proliferation. All of Iran’s actions have been taken in close interaction with and under permanent control of the IAEA. We have taken note of Iran’s stated commitment to cooperation with the IAEA and its readiness to maintain this cooperation at the level that is unprecedented when it comes to the scale and depth of IAEA inspections.

We would like to point out that the suspension is reversible and only concerns those JCPOA elements that exceed the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement. Iran accepted them in 2015 in order to reach a compromise and based on the balance of interests and the principle of reciprocity under the deal. Iran is not to blame for the disruption of this balance.

Russia remains fully committed to the JCPOA and its goals and is ready to continue working towards their achievement. The challenges which the international community has come across during the implementation of the comprehensive arrangements call for political will and a collective response, primarily by the main JCPOA signatories. We have no doubt that when these challenges are checked Iran will see no reason to avoid compliance with the agreed commitments. We urge all our partners to continue on the path set out in the JCPOA and to create conditions for the resumption of its sustainable implementation.