Russia, China and Iran have called on Western countries to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the nuclear deal), which provides for a diplomatic settlement of the conflict surrounding the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic. The three countries issued a joint statement to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), TASS reported.
"The People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are convinced that it is time for Western countries to show political will, to stop the ongoing cycle of escalation from which the countries have been unable to find a way out for almost two years, to take initiative and to take the necessary steps to revive the operation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan. It is still possible to do this,'' their general position states.
The authors of the statement believe that restoring the nuclear deal will make it possible to remove most of the questions about Iran's nuclear program, including by providing IAEA inspectors with extensive monitoring tools.
According to Russia, China and Iran, a fully operational nuclear deal would serve as a tool to reduce tensions.
Russia, China and Iran stressed that provisions of the nuclear deal requiring the Islamic Republic to guarantee the civilian nature of its nuclear program remain in place. In this regard, the parties emphasized the need for the international community to treat the Islamic Republic, which is developing its own nuclear industry, in the same way as any other party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
A Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed with Iran in 2015 to address the crisis over its nuclear development by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. The former US President Donald Trump decided in 2018 to withdraw the country from the agreement. Since April 2021, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, China, the United States and France have been negotiating with the Iranian side in Vienna to restore the nuclear deal in its original form.