Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on Iran to show “maximum responsibility” in preserving a 2015 major nuclear deal with global powers.
Earlier this week Iran announced that it intends to install advanced centrifuges in its main nuclear enrichment plant in Natanz, raising concerns from the governments of France, Germany and the UK.
The European trio said the plans were contrary to the Iran nuclear accord, a 2015 agreement officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
“We are also addressing the Iranian side with an appeal to not raise the stakes and demonstrate a responsible approach,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was cited by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti as saying on Wednesday.
“We believe it is necessary to show maximum responsibility in this situation,” Ryabkov added.
The JCPOA was signed in 2015 by Iran and several world powers — China, the United States, France, the UK, Russia and Germany — curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of international sanctions.
The deal has been on the brink of collapse since outgoing US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions.
Iran has suspended several of its own commitments in retaliation beginning in May last year.
After US President-elect Joe Biden expressed readiness to restore the agreement, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said Tehran will return to full compliance with the pact as soon as other signatories do the same.