MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia could convene a meeting with the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany to address concerns with the agreement curbing the Iranian nuclear program and urge Washington to avoid sabotaging stabilization efforts, Russian senator Igor Morozov told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"Russia may demand the 'six' — thanks to whose efforts this agreement was reached — to convene, and to demand the US not to disrupt efforts to stabilize the situation," Morozov, member of the Federation Council's foreign affairs committee, said.
According to Morozov, the representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should also be invited to the meeting in order to reaffirm that Iran strictly abides by the agreement. The lawmaker has also added that the European Union is likely to support the position of Russia.
"The European investment has begun to flow into Iran, Europe is not interested in destabilization of the situation in the region," Morozov pointed out.
Morozov added that the reaction of Iran to the expansion of US sanctions against Tehran was reasonable and comprehensible.
"Having approved the bill on sanctions, the US Congress has equalized Russia and Iran with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that openly pursues nuclear weapons capabilities. Tehran understands that the US policy is aggressive in its nature," Morozov stated.
The lawmaker emphasized that the Iran nuclear deal was reached through enormous political and diplomatic efforts.
"And now the United States with the stroke of a pen negates all the actions taken by the world community that were aimed at non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," Morozov indicated.
Agreed in July 2015 by Iran, five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as Iran nuclear deal, lifted nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran in exchange for the assurance that Tehran will not operate its nuclear program outside of the promotion of peaceful purposes. According to the deal, all sides agreed to refrain from policies intended to affect Iran's trade and economic relations.
On July 29, the US Senate approved a bill on new non-nuclear sanctions against Iran. On July 30, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the US bill violated the provisions of the agreement on Iran's nuclear program by scaring individuals away from doing business with the country. On Sunday, the Iranian parliament voted for allocating $520 million on the development of its own missile program in response to the sanctions.
