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Europe’s ‘hostile’ acts against Iran ‘stain’ on diplomacy: Russian FM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday criticized Europe’s “hostile and illegal acts” against Iran over the past year and a half, describing them as “deceptive” and a “stain” on European diplomacy.
Despite Iran’s adherence to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the European parties – Britain, France and Germany (E3) – to the accord have tried to put the blame for the collapse of the agreement on the Islamic Republic, Lavrov said in an interview with the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
Lavrov, who is scheduled to host his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Moscow today, said that the JCPOA “was thrown into the trash” by the United States after it walked out of it in 2018 and then the European trio followed in the footsteps of the US and began to accuse Iran of not complying with the deal.
“It was clear that the West resorted to deceptive tactics to pressure Iran,” he said.
The top diplomat added that Europe’s decision to restore international sanctions on Iran by instigating the so-called snapback mechanism under the JCPOA was a “stain” on European diplomacy.
Back in August, the E3 triggered the mechanism that restored UN sanctions against Iran.
The trio accused Iran of not honoring its obligations under the nuclear deal, though they had been unable to fulfil their own commitments after the US unilateral withdrawal.
Tehran has repeatedly said it was the US and its European allies who undermined the JCPOA by failing to honor their commitments, not Iran.
Iran’s nuclear program has been a source of contention with Western countries for more than two decades. While Iran insists that its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful and aimed at civilian purposes such as energy production and medical research, Western powers have long expressed concern that Tehran could be seeking the capability to develop nuclear weapons.